I Want You To Be My Acrobat
by gypsyfurface
Summary: Can Jeannie Jones, former acrobat, best friend of Tonks, and one-time one weekend stand of Remus Lupin remind Sirius Black what it's like to live and feel? She's sure as hell gonna try!
1. Meeting Professor Lupin

Author's note: This is going to be a SB/OC story, but there is a dash of RL/OC in the beinning. Our story starts during PoA and will follow the story pretty closely until the end of OotP. I confess to being a bit obsessed with our two favourite Marauders and in my mind, they not only lived through the war, but had much bigger roles than Ms. Rowling showed us. I have several other stories started in notebooks and bits of hotel paper ( all variations on a Marauder theme ), but I decided to start with this one because 1) I have several chapters already written, and outlines for even more, and 2) I wanted to jump in at the deep end. This is my first fanfiction, and let me warn you ahead of time, it will be long. In fact I am already in the planning stages of a sequel. Not much of the big events will be changed with the exception of Sirius dying. I actually cried when the book first came out and have been in "sirius" denial ever since. Other than that, things stay the same. Dumbledore will leave us on schedule and the final battle will still happen. If you want details, however, your going to have to read.

Thank you, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable is the lovely J.K. Rowling's. Also, I do not own Elton John's "Little Jeannie", I just thought the title was fitting. I make no money here.

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I Want You To Be My Acrobat

Chapter 1: Meeting Professor Lupin

Jeannie Jones felt nervous as she approached the front gates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It had only been a little over two years since she last set foot on the grounds, but it might as well have been a lifetime. How things had changed! If she hadn't been there to see it for herself, she may not have believed it. The once open, welcoming gates of Hogwarts were now closed - locked against the threat of Sirius Black with Dementors of all creatures guarding the entrance. She had heard stories over the summer that the Minister of Magic wanted to deploy the Dementors to search for the Azkaban escapee, but she never thought that meant placing them in close proximity to school children.

Jeannie was just a bit horrified by this. She had never had to deal directly with Dementors before, but she certainly knew what they were. Soul-sucking monsters whose only purpose in life was misery and despair. About a million times worse than any boggart, in her opinion. The air around her began to get colder and colder the closer she got to the gates. She almost wished she still had the company of the large black mutt that had followed her from Hogsmeade until she took pity on him and gave him her leftovers from lunch. He had abandoned her shortly afterwards- she figured he didn't like the Dementors any more than she did. She couldn't blame him.

As she walked up to the gates, she was grateful for the large wolf Patronus that was keeping the Dementors at bay. Looking just past the gates she saw a tall, thin man with patched robes and greying sandy-brown hair. When she got close enough, she could see that he was fairly young - early thirties maybe - and very handsome. He was about 6'4"- much taller than her meager 5 feet - and his blue eyes were flecked with amber. This puzzled her for a moment, but as she noticed his scars she realized that the man in front of her was a werewolf. She was not put out by this - having been raised on the fringes of society, she had come into contact with many "creatures" and had nothing but sympathy for this man.

"Are you Professor Lupin?" she asked.

He nodded. "Remus. Miss Jones?"

"Yes, Jeannie" she said, holding out her hand.

Remus shook her hand and opened the gates for her. "Dumbledore asked me to tell you that the others are already here and to escort you to the Great Hall" he said, closing the gates behind her.

"Thanks. I remember the way, but I won't say no to company right now" she replied, eyeing the Dementors.

"They are awful," Lupin agreed, directing his Patronus to circle them until they got closer to the castle. He looked at Jeannie "Have you been here before?"

"Yes, I did 5th, 6th, and 7th year here. I transferred from the Academy in California."

"Ah," said Remus, smiling "I thought you sounded American."

"My accent is okay, but I much prefer yours," she said, winking at him teasingly.

Remus blushed and stuttered "Umm... thank you."

Jeannie laughed. "You're not used to being flirted with, are you?"

He smiled shyly at her. "Ah, no, I have to admit, it's been a while."

Jeannie laughed again and nudged him with her elbow. He seemed surprised by the physical contact, but didn't say anything about it as they continued their friendly banter all the way to the Great Hall .

"Well, Jeannie" said Remus, stopping just outside the doors to the Great Hall, "this is where I leave you."

"Would you like to come in for a sneak peek?" she asked him, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I'm afraid I can't, I have a class in a few minutes. Perhaps later?" he said, grinning.

"Sure, Remus. Hey, when is your last class of the day?"

"Today, it's 4 pm. Why?"

"Would you mind if I sat in? I won't cause any trouble, I promise," she said, winking at him again.

Remus' cheeks went slightly pink as he answered her. "Sure, if you'd like."

"Great. 4 pm." said Jeannie, flashing him one more smile before heading into the Great Hall.

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At 3:50 that afternoon, Jeannie knocked on the door of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and, after getting no answer, let herself in. She looked around the room and wondered what sort of lesson it had been. Chairs had been thrown across the room and a few desks had been blown apart. There were books with large chunks of pages ripped out and even a few gouges in the stone walls. She thought she saw smoke coming from one of the blasted desks and there were scorch marks everywhere. Jeannie was surveying the wreckage when Remus walked in. He looked up and smiled at her.

"Hi," he said. "I just had the 7th years. We were practicing dueling."

"Ah," Jeannie nodded "That makes sense."

Remus chuckled. "Yes, well, I've got the 6th years next. Would you mind giving me a hand?" he asked, eying the mess.

"Sure," she said.

They had just put the finishing touches on the classroom when the first students arrived. It was a group of boys whose eyes went wide when they recognized Jeannie.

"Wow, Professor," said one of them, "you _know _Jeannie Jones?"

Remus glanced at Jeannie before answering. "Yes, I do. Is that surprising?"

One of the boys was rummaging through his schoolbag and Jeannie thought she knew where this was going. Sure enough, the boy pulled out the latest issue of _Sophisticated Sorcery_ that had her most recent interview and photoshoot. The magazine was hardly anything that anyone could consider smut- in fact, it really lived up to the claim of _'sophisticated'_- but Jeannie was a bit of a sex symbol, so she wasn't surprised that the boys had it. Even though she was fully clothed in every picture.

"Miss Jones," he said shyly, "would you sign my magazine for me, please?"

"What sort of magazine is that?" Remus asked, grinning.

Jeannie rolled her eyes. "Just an interview I did not too long ago. Pretty tame stuff, but it did have some good photos." She turned to the boys. "Tell you what, guys, show me which picture is your favorite and I'll make a copy of it and sign it for you. How's that?"

Remus and Jeannie both chuckled at the chorus of "thank you's" that followed. The rest of the students made their way in as Jeannie was signing autographs.

"Wow- is that- "

"I think it is- "

"Is it really - Jeannie Jones!"

Remus leaned toward Jeannie. "If I had know you were this famous, I might have wanted an autograph, too."

Jeannie couldn't say what she was thinking in front of the students ("Play your cards right and I'll give you more than an autograph"), so she settled for winking at him again and making him blush. It was easy to make Remus blush, and Jeannie was quickly becoming an expert.

"Alright people," she said, getting the class' attention when she had finished the boys' pictures. "If anyone else wants an autograph, they can come see me after class."

At this point, Remus stood up to start the lesson. "As you can see, we have a guest in the classroom today - Miss Jeannie Jones - and I'm sure you will all be on your best behavior. Perhaps, if the lesson ends early, she may answer a few questions for you?" He looked at Jeannie and she nodded. "Alright, let's begin."

Lupin began his lesson, and Jeannie could see immediately that this man was a born teacher. She found herself wishing that he had been teaching when she was in school. He had a natural way of dealing with the students and never failed to condense a lengthy explanation into something a teenager could grasp. She also liked the way he made the lesson both academic and practical at the same time. He would introduce a new topic or spell and, after explaining the basic properties, he would request a volunteer to help him act it out. Jeannie also found herself watching the way he moved about the class, checking notes or correcting wand movement as needed. She had noticed when they met at the front gates that Lupin was handsome, and she was perfectly happy to sit at the back of his classroom with nothing to do but watch him move. He walked like a predator - which she knew was not uncommon for his kind, especially if they had been infected young - and always seemed to sense the objects around him, not once tripping or bumping into anything.

He caught her watching him once, raising an eyebrow and colouring slightly, but Jeannie just smiled at him. She had never been shy and didn't have a problem with Lupin knowing that she was checking him out. His robes were patched and frayed in some places and had clearly seen better days, but Jeannie didn't care about that. She was watching the way his body moved underneath the layers. She was willing to bet that Lupin was quite the man under those stuffy professor's robes. In all honesty, his personality alone was enough to attract her, but Jeannie truly appreciated a well-formed body. Her backround gave her a certain expertise in physicality, and she could tell just by watching Lupin move that his body would be just as pleasing as his mind.

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Jeannie really enjoyed Lupin's class and told him so at dinner, earning herself another blush. She was really going to have to start keeping count of those. Dumbledore had created another place at the Head Table for her that put her in between Lupin and Hagrid. Upon seeing Hagrid enter the Great Hall, Jeannie had broken into a run and launched herself at his enormous frame knowing that, as always, he would catch her. And he did, pulling her into a hug but being careful not to crush her. Hagrid had always been very gentle with Jeannie and her friends. She had shown no fear of him when she first met him and, because of that, he had always been very fond of her.

"Did Hagrid tell you he's teaching now?" asked Remus as he poured himself some wine.

Jeannie whipped around to see a blushing Hagrid grinning at her. "Ooh, Hagrid, what subject?" she asked excitedly.

"Care of Magical Creatures," he answered proudly. "I can't believe it myself, really."

"Ooh, can I sit in on a class tomorrow?" Jeannie asked, almost bouncing in her seat.

Hagrid looked at her, puzzled, while Remus chuckled behind her. "I s'pose, if you want to."

Jeannie squealed and Lupin laughed. "What is it about sitting in that you like so much?" he asked her.

"I don't know" she said, shrugging. "Once a Ravenclaw, always a Ravenclaw I guess."

Remus nodded and they went back to their food. As the students finished supper and started to leave, Remus and Jeannie walked out of the Great Hall together and Remus escorted her back to her guest rooms, keeping up the conversation the whole way. He seemed genuinely interested in her, so she told him all about her childhood in the circus. She had been abandoned as an infant at the circus and had grown up as an acrobat, traveling all over the world. Then, not long after leaving Hogwarts, she had become interested in music and dance. She left the circus and decided to put together a revue. Jeannie knew she had something good with this new venture and was itching to unleash it onto the world. This concert at Hogwarts was to be her first and as Remus assured her that she would be brilliant, she was once again reminded of what an attractive man he was. He had a kind, reassuring way about him.

When they reached her door, Jeannie turned to him and wished him good night before slipping into her room. Remus sighed and made his way to his own rooms regretting more than ever his condition. Here was a woman he could be interested in, but if she ever found out about him, she'd run for sure. Meanwhile, Jeannie was in her room thinking about how she could convince Remus to spend tomorrow night with her. It wasn't something she normally did, but there was no denying the attraction went both ways. Jeannie had caught Lupin sneaking glances at her all through dinner, and since she was only there for the weekend, she wanted to make the most of it. She decided to corner him after the concert and simply not take no for an answer. She'd make sure he couldn't resist her.

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Author's note: I'm not going to apologize for ending on a cliffhanger. The next chapter will be posted shortly, so you won't have to wait long. Also, I wanted to get you hooked. Please let me know what you think. This is my first time, after all.

Thank you, Gypsyfurface

P.S. Did you enjoy Sirius' cameo?


	2. The After-Party

Author's note: Like I said last chapter, this will be SB/OC, so I'm getting the RL/OC out of the way fairly quickly. There is smut in the next few chapters, but that will have to tide you over for a while because the SB/OC is going to be a bit of a slow burn. Also, please review! I'd love to know what you think.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing. Anything recognizable belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling.

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Chapter 2: The After-party

The concert went off without a hitch, just as Jeannie had hoped. The band was great, the dancers were on point and the students loved it. They did several easy songs at the beginning for the younger kids, before Dumbledore sent them to bed, then got into the heavier stuff for the older students. Jeannie danced her way across the Head Table and wound up sandwiched between the Weasley twins. She was a little surprised that Dumbledore let her get away with that, but as it was only the older kids left, he must have decided that it wouldn't scar them for life.

Remus, meanwhile, had been asked to maintain a presence along the perimiter of the Great Hall. He was supposed to be keeping an eye out for snogging teenagers, but he suspected that Professor "Meddle-dore" was really giving him the treat of watching Jeannie's show. He wasn't going to complain as she was truly fantastic to watch. Her circus training had made her incredibly lithe and her body seemed to glide across the stage - and table - and dance-floor... and now Remus' mind was drifting into dangerous territory. He had been awoken twice the previous night by a very vivid dream that seemed to be coming true as he suddenly noticed Jeannie coming towards him. The party was over and the students had been sent to bed. Remus was only vaguely aware of this, however, because Jeannie was coming towards him. He really needed to get a hold of himself.

"Hi," she said, noticing his somewhat blank stare.

"I told you you'd be brilliant," he said, recovering quickly.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it" said Jeannie, watching the last of the students leave the Great Hall. She turned back to Remus, sizing him up. The adrenaline from the concert hadn't worn off and now that there was a sexy man in reach, she found herself horny as hell. All she had to figure out was how to go in for the kill.

"How long will it take you to see the rest of the students to bed and do your security checks?" she asked him.

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Um, I'm not sure. Maybe half an hour. Why?"

Jeannie stepped slightly closer to him so she could look up at him seductively. "Meet me in you classroom for a nightcap in half an hour?"

She watched in amusement as his face registered his shock at her blatantly propositioning him. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. Then he seemed to recover and nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Jeannie smiled at him and walked away, presumably to her rooms to freshen up. As he watched her go, he realized what he had just agreed to. Panic gripped him momentarily as he debated whether or not he should tell her about himself.

_"No," _he thought, _"she just wants to have a drink and talk a bit before going to bed."_

_"Yeah, your bed," _the treacherous part of his brain that was ruled by his cock added.

Remus closed his eyes and composed himself before going about his duties for the night. He escorted the rest of the lingering students to their respective dorms and made his way around the various security checkpoints. This part of his job was always hard for him. He wondered, for the millionth time, if he should come clean to Dumbledore and tell him what he knew about Sirius. He almost had on numerous occasions, but something always stopped him. Conscience or cowardice, he couldn't be sure, but the result was always the same. He kept his mouth shut every time.

Remus finished his rounds and started making his way to his classroom, each step he took bringing a new wave of anxiety. He was terrified of telling her about the wolf, but at the same time he knew he would feel guilty later if he took her to bed without telling her. On the other hand, what would happen if she got his shirt off and asked about his scars? Could she recognize werewolf scars on sight? Not many could, but he really didn't know that much about her.

That realization alone made him feel like a lech. What right did he have to let anything happen - even a one night stand - without knowing much more than her name? Remus had never been that kind of man - he let guys like Sirius do that sort of thing. Also, even if he didn't know much about her, he felt she should have the right to refuse him because of is ailment. He knew he couldn't take her choices away from her like that.

These thoughts - and all other rational thinking - stopped completely when he opened the door to his classroom. Jeannie had gotten there first and had already created the scene. She had lit only about half the lamps in the room, giving everything a shadowy, seductive glow and she herself was perched right on top of his desk.

There she was, wearing a short dress and somehow managing to hide her panties from his view even while sitting Indian style. Next to her was a bottle of Champagne and she held a full glass in each hand. She offered him one and, as if obeying an unspoken command, he walked over to her and took the glass, flicking his wand to close and lock the door as he did so. They clinked their glasses together and each took a sip.

"Aren't you going to congratulate me?" she asked him.

"Congratulations," he said automatically.

"Thank you," she said, grinning at him.

"I don't think this is a good idea," he blurted out.

Jeannie raised her eyebrows calmly as if she half-expected him to put up a fight. "Why not?" she asked. "Got a girlfriend?"

Remus snorted. "No."

"Are you gay?"

"Hardly," he answered, smiling slightly.

"I didn't thin so. Are you sick?"

He paused. "Sort of," he said, not volunteering anymore.

"Alright," Jeannie said, putting down her glass. "Is it terminal?"

"No."

"Is it contagious?"

Remus paused again. "Not at the moment," he answered truthfully.

Jeannie nodded and looked him dead in the eye. "Is it Lycanthropy?" she asked softly.

Remus paled and his grip on the glass of Champagne tightened. He hadn't expected her to get there so soon, despite her telling him that she had been in Ravenclaw, and it shocked him. For her part, Jeannie remained calm. She could see the fear and shame and pain written all over his face. She gently took the glass from his hand and set it next to her own on the desk, moving slowly as he looked as if he might bolt from the room at any moment. She took his hand in both of hers and looked up at him.

"If that's your big secret, Remus," she said quietly, "I already knew." He simply stared at her. "I knew the minute we met that you were a werewolf." His hand twitched in hers at hearing the word. "It doesn't change anything. It doesn't change what I want."

"And what might that be?" Remus asked hoarsely.

"Right now, tonight, I want you," she said, releasing his hand.

Remus watched as she rose up onto her knees, wrapped her arms around his neck and brought her lips to his. She kissed him softly at first, not wanting to scare him off, but as he closed his eyes and leaned into her, she increased the pressure. His lips were soft, but his moustache was slightly scratchy, and Jeannie found herself loving it. She tightened her arms around his neck and opened her mouth to deepen the kiss when she felt him pull away.

Remus had nearly lost his sanity when he felt her soft lips and her soft body pressed up against him and had scared himself a little in the process. His breathing was heavier now as he gently unwound her arms from his neck.

"Um,ah," he said haltingly, "don't you think we should slow down a bit?"

"No," she said simply, reaching for him again.

Remus took a step back out of her reach and tried again. "Couldn't we go for lunch or something?" he asked as he watched her climb off his desk and start toward him as if he were prey.

She smiled darkly at him as she began stalking him around his own classroom, admiring the graceful way he avoided bumping into anything. "We can eat, if you'd like," she said in a low, seductive voice. "I'll eat you and then you can eat me."

Remus whimpered and glanced at her mouth, briefly imagining her lips wrapped around his cock. The fact that he could smell her arousal wasn't helping the situation in his trousers. He lost track of where he was in the classroom when she suddenly made her move. Shoving him solidly in the chest, he fell back and landed in his desk chair. She pinned him down, planting her hands on his shoulders and a knee on his hip. She smiled at him again before attacking his mouth. There was nothing slow about it this time as she opened his mouth with hers and thrust her tongue inside. They both groaned at the sensation of tasting each other as Jeannie brought one hand up to fist in his hair and Remus gripped her hips. She adjusted her position so that she was straddling his lap and ground down on his crotch.

Remus growled into her mouth in response and this caused her stomach to tighten with desire. " Ahh " she moaned, breaking away from the kiss and latching her mouth onto his throat. She sucked and nibbled the sensitive skin there until she was sure she'd given him something to cover up in the morning. He whimpered again at her gentle biting and gripped her ass, rubbing her centre against the hard bulge in his pants. Jeannie felt him hesitate slightly when she started unbuttoning his shirt, so she kissed him again for reassurance. When she got through all the buttons, she dipped her head and ran her tongue along some of the scars there. Then she climbed off his lap and got down on her knees on the floor between his legs. Remus stared at her wide-eyed as she went for his belt buckle. She made short work of opening his pants and ran her hands up and down his chest once more before reaching into his trousers.

It was her turn to be amazed as she freed his hard cock from it's fabric prison. He was huge! Long and thick and almost purple with desire, it twitched in her hand as she stared. She wrapped her fingers around him, earning a deep groan from Remus before pumping her hand over him a few times. She locked eyes with Remus and grinned before giving him one solid lick from root to tip. Remus threw his head back with a moan and gripped the armrests of the chair so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Jeannie flicked her tongue against the head of his cock a few times before closing her lips around it and gently sucking. She knew she wouldn't be able to fit all of him in her mouth, so she focused on the first few inches. Letting Remus' whines and whimpers be her guide, she increased suction while pumping him with one hand. She raked her nails down his chest with the other hand until he began to beg incoherently. He was getting close, so she slipped a hand down to fondle his balls, while continuing to suck and pump him, occasionally flicking her tongue against him.

"Oh, Merlin... Jeannie!" Remus cried, bucking into her mouth. She gently rolled his balls around with her fingers until she felt them begin to tighten. When they did, she went into a frenzy, sucking harder and pumping faster while gripping his sac firmly.

"Oh...oh...ah...ah FUCK!" Remus yelled as he came hard into her mouth. His hips bucked uncontrollably and the muscles in his stomach clenched as he exploded. She took all he gave until she felt him relax. Then she released his cock and waited for him to look at her. When he did, she closed her eyes and swallowed, making sure he saw her enjoying him.

Remus watched her little display in utter amazement. He'd never had a blowjob like that before and when she looked at him again with heavy-lidded eyes and a proud little smile on her face, he broke. His hands suddenly shot out to grip her head as he leaned down and kissed her roughly, forcing his tongue into her mouth and, for the first time, tasting himself on a woman's tongue. It was heady and dirty and absolutely delicious. When he released her, she was dizzy and barely registered the wicked grin on his face as he leaned in close to her.

"My turn"

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Author's note: Uh-oh... Remus' turn! I have a lot of fun writing naughty scenes, but I don't know if I'm actually any good at it, so please let me know what you think.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	3. My Turn

Author's note: Just got my first review and follow! So excited!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

**you've-been-sherlocked**: Thanks for the follow, you're my first!

**Victoria C. Black**: I'm so glad you're enjoying it!

P.S. I own nothing. Anything recognizable belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling.

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Chapter 3: My Turn

Jeannie's eyes widened and she felt herself get even wetter at the almost menacing tone of his voice. Panting slightly, all she could manage was a weak "please" before he suddenly stood, gripped her by the shoulders and yanked her to her feet. He crashed his mouth to hers once again, his moustache burning her lips and backed her up until her backside hit his desk . Remus was so tall that he almost had to crouch to be able to kiss her properly, but he didn't care. He also didn't care that he was defiling his own classroom with his shirt hanging off his shoulders and his pants around his knees. All he cared about was giving Jeannie as much pleasure as she had just given him. With that thought in mind, he shoved his hand under her dress and came into contact with soft lace.

Remus moaned at this discovery and grabbed her ass with both hands, lifting her up and setting her on his desk. He leaned over her, making her lay down, and kissed her once before making his way down her jawline to her neck. He bit and licked at her skin as she ran her hands all over his back and moved seductively underneath him. He kissed his way across her collarbone and moved her dress strap to nip at her shoulder. The dress she wore had buttons all down the front, but they were both too far gone to worry about undoing them properly. Remus raised himself just enough to look at her. Her brown eyes were dark with lust, her lips bruised, her chest heaving and she was flushed all over. He looked her in the eye as he gripped the sides of her dress and yanked. The fabric ripped violently, buttons flying everywhere. Jeannie cried out and arched her back, grinding her wet panties into his quickly re-hardening erection.

By now, Remus was panting heavily as he gazed down at her debauched form. She was pure temptation, lying across his desk with torn clothes, creamy skin and... tattoos! "Wow" he breathed, running his fingers over the one just below her left breast. He also noticed one on her right hip, but he couldn't see either one properly, because her bra and panties were in the way. _"These will have to go," _he thought to himself. He hooked his arms around her back as he sat her upright. He drew the straps of her ruined dress off her shoulders and reached around to undo her bra. This always took him a minute, so he took her mouth again to distract her. Getting the thing unhooked, but not removing it just yet, he laid her back down. He ran his hands down her sides and over her stomach, then down her legs that still clung to his hips, appreciating her form.

Jeannie let him stare at her for a minute, then decided to remind him that she hadn't come yet tonight. She arched her back again, grinding her hips into his and mewled at him to break his reverie. He growled at her in response and she moaned, her stomach tightening again.

"Fuck, Remus" she said breathily. "I love it when you growl. Fucking growl at me."

So he did. He growled at her from somewhere deep in his chest and ground his hips into her soaked pussy.

"Ah...ah... Remus"

Remus had been smelling her arousal since he walked into the classroom and it was beginning to take over his brain. He could smell her now, stronger than ever and he wondered just how little it would take to get her off. He met her eyes and leaned over her body. She thought he was leaning down to kiss her, but he held himself just out of reach. She tried to raise herself up to his mouth, but he growled at her again. This sent shivers through her as she laid back down obediently. Never in a million years would she have expected Remus to be dominant, but he clearly had something in mind. He deliberately braced his arms on either side of her head, maintaining eye contact with her. She was so focused on his face, that she hadn't noticed this new angle brought his pelvis flush against her clit. Remus noticed, however, and smiled darkly at her as he rolled his hips slightly.

"Oh, fuck yes, Remus!" Jeannie cried out at the delicious friction. She had been wanting him for ages now and was unbelievably sensitive. Her body arched up towards him as he did it again. She went to reach for his ass to pull him closer, but he growled at that, so she reached up to grab at his forearms that were braced above her shoulders instead. He seemed fine with that as he began rolling his hips in a rhythm. Jeannie gasped and panted while her nails dug into his skin. She was so close she could almost taste it. She began to beg.

"Remus, fuck... oh please... don't... don't stop... right there... right there..."

She kept eye contact with him until he thrust against her roughly one time. That was all it took to send her over the edge. Her legs tightened around him almost painfully, her fingers clawed at his arms and her body arched to a degree that only an acrobat could achieve. A hoarse scream ripped from her throat as every muscle in her body clenched.

Remus stared down at her in wonder. He had never had a woman be so responsive to him, only associating this kind of reaction with guys like James and Sirius. Even then, it was usually after Quidditch practice. He'd seen several girls during his school days nearly wet themselves at the sight of a sweaty, shirtless Sirius Black, but here was Jeannie begging for _him._

Once Jeannie came down from her high, she decided that enough was enough. She wanted Remus inside of her, and she wanted it now. Apparently he had the same idea, because he finally got around to removing the bra he had unhooked earlier. Remus tossed it behind him and went to reach for her panties when something glittery caught his eye. The glittery object was attached to Jeannie's nipple. Jeannie chuckled at the look of confusion on Remus' face. She brought her hand up to her breasts, small as they were, and rolled the piercings around with her fingers. It didn't take long for Remus to replace her fingers with his own as he enjoyed another first. He had heard of exotic piercings, but had never seen one in person before. Now he was staring at two - one in each nipple - and he liked it. He squeezed her breasts and pulled gently at the stones, making her moan again.

That moan brought Remus back to the task at hand. He ran his hands down her body to the top of her panties. By now, he was hard as a rock once more and ready to give Jeannie the pounding she seemed to desperately need. Locking eyes with her again, he ripped the panties off her body, making her yelp in response. Then, taking himself in hand, he aligned his cock with her centre and plunged inside.

Jeannie screamed and Remus groaned loudly. She was so tight, he wondered briefly if she had been a virgin. This thought disappeared, however, when she expertly worked her inner muscles over his cock. Remus growled at her and began thrusting into her roughly. Jeannie moaned and started fingering her nipples again. Remus batted her hands away and replaced them with his own before remembering that he hadn't tasted her breasts yet. He grinned at her, then wrapped his lips around a nipple and suckled her. She mewled and threaded her fingers through his hair to hold him there. Remus rolled his tongue around the jewel before biting down on the soft flesh. Jeannie bucked her hips at him, so he switched breasts and did it again.

He pulled back when he felt himself getting close so he could watch himself piercing her body. He stared at the place where they came together, then took a moment to watch her breasts bounce in time with his thrusts. Jeannie was still sensitive from her first orgasm and she knew it wouldn't take much to make her come again. She watched Remus work her body and felt the tingling begin. His hips thrust powerfully into her just the way she liked and the muscles in his upper body rippled with the effort. She brought her hands above her head and gripped the edge of his desk as her body began to shake. Remus felt her flutter around him and gripped her hips almost painfully as he snapped his hips faster and harder, grunting and growling with each thrust. Finally, it was too much for her.

"Oh, fuck... ah... ah... yes... yes... there... REMUS!"

Her body clenched around him and sent him spiraling into his own climax. His hoarse shout rivaled her scream as his thrusting became erratic, finally spilling inside her as he buried himself as deep as he could possibly go. Completely spent, he collapsed on top of her, gasping for breath and resting his head on her chest. They stayed that way for many long minutes - Remus' breathing returning to normal and Jeannie gently stroking his hair. Finally, he detached his sweaty cheek from her sweaty breast and looked at her. She smiled softly at him, sated for the moment.

"You're beautiful," he said, smiling back at her.

"So are you," she replied.

"Will you spend the night with me?" he asked, still slightly scared of rejection.

"I'd like that," she said, surprising him.

"Really?"

"Yes - that was my plan," she said, amused.

"You had a plan?" he asked stupidly.

"I had an outline. I knew I wanted to end up in your bed tonight, I just wasn't sure how I was going to make that happen. It worked out pretty well in my opinion - you've just fulfilled one of my favourite fantasies," she said, smiling wickedly at him.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, laughing.

"Absolutely! Fucking a teacher on his desk? The only thing that would have made this better is if I had my old uniform with me - then we could play 'detention'!" She laughed at the scandalized look on his face.

"Detention?! You are a naughty girl."

"Remus?"

"Hmm?"

"We have to get up if we want to sleep in your bed tonight."

He sighed. "I know, but that means pulling out of you." Remus' cock was still buried in her tight heat and, even soft, it was happy there.

Jeannie laughed again and said, "I'll make you a deal. You put me in your bed, and I'll put you back inside me. How about that?"

Remus grinned at her. "Deal."

Remus pulled out of her gently and buttoned his trousers. He then helped Jeannie to her feet and they made their wobbly way up to his living quarters, picking up random pieces of hap-hazardly thrown clothing along the way. She took his hand as they walked up the staircase that led from his office to his private rooms and Remus couldn't help but smile at that. It had been an awfully long time since he'd held hands with someone.

After giving Jeannie a quick tour, he watched in awe as she stripped off what was left of her clothes and climbed into his bed naked. She looked up at him with a tired but satisfied smile and he couldn't stop his grin. "I propose a nap before we resume our 'activities'" she said. "Would you care to join me?"

Remus' grin widened as he slipped out of his clothes and into bed alongside her. Jeannie curled into his side and laid her head on his chest. She ran her fingers through the light dusting of hair on his chest and traced a few of his scars. She had been right about Remus having an amazing body. He was long and lean and certainly no body-builder, but he had all the muscle he needed. He also had not an ounce of fat on him, despite being stuffed full of Hogwarts' good food. All-in-all, Remus was quite well built. Jeannie snuggled deeper into his chest and he placed a kiss on top of her head, then closed his eyes, sighing contentedly.

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Author's note: I know I've made several references to Sirius and James, but I feel like Remus (and later Sirius) never truly moved on. Sirius and James were Remus' first friends and I feel like he always knew something wasn't quite right about the way things happened and was never at peace with it, so his thoughts go frequently to them. Also, he never met anyone that was able to replace them in his mind.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	4. Fantastic Weekend

Author's note: Sorry about the delay. I have the outline to this story done, it's just a matter of 'fleshing it out' and making it work in a way that makes me happy. I wasn't sure how I was going to end things with Remus and I wanted to make sure that it was good before posting this chapter. The next few chapters will be transitional for everyone, because we all know some big events happen for all involved, but it won't be too long before Jeannie's back in action and setting her sights on another Marauder. Please let me know what you think. I love reviews!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 4: Fantastic Weekend

The first thing Remus noticed when he woke up the next morning was that the sun was already high, telling him that he had slept later than usual. The second thing he noticed was that he wasn't alone. The third thing he noticed was the smell of sex. Neither he nor Jeannie had bothered showering before going to bed last night and he could still smell her on him, and him on her. The lady in question was still fast asleep and Remus couldn't blame her. She'd had a long day, then a long night even before seducing him. Remus mentally snorted at that. _She seduced me_, he thought. _And__ she knew about me. __And __she didn't care. Hmm._

He really hadn't had time the night before to analyze the situation, what with being sucked off and all, but now in the light of day he could see things a bit clearer. Actually, scratch that - it didn't make any more sense to him now than it had last night. Was he simply a warm body in the right place at the right time for her? Was she actually attracted to him at all, or was he just the best option she could find? He supposed that his friends in school had been right when they said he could be worse than a girl in these situations. Remus knew he tended to over-think everything, especially when it came to things he didn't fully understand - like young, beautiful women wanting him. He couldn't remember the last time any girl had been so _assertive_ with him. Oh, that's right, it had _never_ happened before. He had always been the proactive one in the few relationships that he'd had.

Not that he would mind all that much if she had simply used him, of course. He was a man (most of the time), and it had been the best sex of his life. Something about Jeannie had brought out the wolf - just a bit of him - and she hadn't seemed frightened at all. In fact, she'd encouraged it, asking him to growl at her. He'd never felt that free before, always knowing that he had to hide his true nature from his partners if he didn't want them running away or hexing him. Life was unfair for a werewolf, but he was used to that, and if Jeannie simply wanted to have a bit of fun with him, well, they were both adults. He was sure he could handle it.

Remus was brought out of his mental merry-go-round by a movement on the bed. Jeannie had woken up and was looking at him. He smiled at her and she returned it.

"Is the ceiling particularly fascinating this morning?" she asked, and he looked at her questioningly. "You seem to be studying it pretty hard."

"No, same old ceiling, just different circumstances," he replied. "You see, this ceiling has never seen this bed occupied by two people. At least, not while I've been in residence."

"Ah - you're not complaining are you?" she asked, tracing a few scars on his chest suggestively.

"Definitely not," Remus said, enjoying her touch, "but if we want breakfast, we might want to get out of bed soon."

Jeannie flopped back down on the bed and hid her head under a pillow. Remus heard her groan, than a muffled voice said, "You go to breakfast, I just want a cup of coffee and a shower."

Remus rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow. He gently removed the pillow from Jeannie's face and looked down at her. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep, and her long dark hair was all over the place. "If you want to sleep some more, that's fine, just call for a house-elf when you're ready. I have to at least make an appearance around the school before you make good on your promise," he said, raising an eyebrow at her and grinning.

"What promise?" she asked.

"You said last night that if I put you in my bed, you would put me back inside you. That was the deal. Remember?" he said, running his fingers along any exposed flesh of hers he could find. "Now, unless we had sex again last night in our sleep... " he trailed off. Remus had never been this bold with a girl before, but there was something about Jeannie that seemed to make it okay.

"Mmm, that's right - I did say that, didn't I?" she said, arching into his touch. She bit her lip and looked at him "You better go make your appearance then, because I'm only here for the weekend and I intend to make the most of it."

Remus' fingers paused momentarily in their exploration, then resumed. At least now he had his answer, he had a weekend. He could live with that. Flashing her a quick grin and swooping down for a kiss, he got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom for a shower.

"Remus?" she called, just before he got the bathroom door. He turned back to her. "Are you okay with that? I mean - with this just being a one-weekend thing?" she asked, biting her lip as if she hadn't meant to hurt his feelings. He walked back towards the bed, completely uncaring that he was stark naked, and enjoying the way that her eyes roamed his body. There was no disgust in her gaze, like some others he had known, just appreciation of the male form. When he got to the bed, he braced his arms on the edge and leaned over her.

"I don't know much about you, Jeannie, but I know enough to know that you are a one-of-a-kind woman. I have never met anyone like you and probably never will. I am perfectly happy to bask in your presence as long as you will let me and if that means that I have a weekend, then that's what it means. And yes, I'm okay with that," he told her, watching her face carefully. Her eyes widened slightly, but she smiled at him, and he knew that he hadn't scared her off. He smiled back and stole another kiss before heading back to his original destination.

"Oh, Remus," her voice stopped him again. He turned and raised an eyebrow at her. "Before you make your 'appearance', you may want to cover up that hickey on your neck," she said, laughing at him as his jaw dropped and he hurried to the bathroom mirror to see if she was lying.

"Jeannie!" he whined at her, making her laugh even harder.

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All-in-all it was a fantastic weekend. They did have a fair amount of sex, of course, but they spent just as much time talking. It was clear to Remus why Jeannie had been placed in Ravenclaw. She had a quick intelligence and a sharp wit - both of Rowena Ravenclaw's most treasured traits, and Remus genuinely enjoyed her company. He had a feeling he was going to be a bit lonely when she left, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Here he was, a man in his early thirties, hanging on every word that came from the mouth of a girl of maybe twenty. Perhaps it was best if this was just a one-time thing. Remus knew himself well enough to know how easy it was for him to get attached to someone who accepted the wolf. He hadn't met anyone like that since school, and look how that had ended. He simply couldn't afford to get attached.

When Sunday evening came, Jeannie packed her things while Remus did his usual school duties. When she finished, she went back to Remus' rooms to say goodbye. She found him in the living room, sitting on the sofa. Leaning against the door-frame, she took a minute to memorize his features as he marked his place, set his book aside and looked up at her. She smiled at him and he returned it.

"Are you leaving now?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Dumbledore's letting me use his floo so I can go straight home. He didn't want me traveling at this time of night," Jeannie answered, knowing that Remus would understand what she _wasn't_ saying - namely, that Dumbledore didn't want her to risk running into the madman Sirius Black. She had asked Remus if he knew anything about Black because all she had heard was that he was insane, but Remus had deflected the question - and had looked so uncomfortable with the subject - that she hadn't tried again. She figured there was a good reason why he didn't want to talk about it, and that was his business, so she left it alone.

Remus pursed his lips and nodded, then smiled at her. "I've enjoyed having you here," he said.

"I know you have," Jeannie replied with a dirty grin. "I made damn sure of it."

He laughed. "Yes, you did. I just hope you got some pleasure out of it as well - I'd hate to think that I took advantage of you."

"Hey - _I_ jumped _you_, remember? And I wouldn't have stayed if I wasn't having a good time," she said, walking over to the sofa and straddling his lap. Remus moved to make them both comfortable and took a long, deep breath. "Are you smelling me, Lupin?" she asked, her voice husky and teasing. He mumbled an affirmative. "Just how much can you smell?" she asked, pulling back just a bit. "No - really, I'm curious" she said when he looked slightly embarrassed.

"Well, um," he started, a bit uncomfortable. "I can smell moods, emotions - particularly strong ones like fear or arousal, but I can also smell _you_. Not just your shampoo or lotion or what you had for dinner, but something that is uniquely _you _- I'm not sure I can really explain that," he said as she cocked her head to the side as if trying to understand. "You're not going to run from me _now_, are you?" he asked, jokingly.

Jeannie chuckled and started kissing his neck. "Not a chance," she said. "What time is it?" she asked, nibbling on his earlobe.

Remus groaned and looked at the clock on the mantle over his fireplace. "Nine-thirty," he said, his voice getting rough. "When is Dumbledore expecting you? "

"Ten"

"Thank Merlin," he said, his hands going to her ass as she began to move against him, grinding her hips into his. "Oh, Jeannie," he groaned. Sliding his hands up and under her sweater, his fingers found her breasts. She wasn't wearing a bra. Rolling and tweaking her nipples, he gently pulled on her piercings, knowing she liked that. She moaned and ground down on him harder, then leaned back and stripped off the sweater. Remus growled and immediately took a nipple in his mouth. She threaded her fingers through his hair and pressed him closer.

Suddenly she let go of his hair and stood. "Come on," she said, grabbing his hand and bringing him with her, "one more time." Jeannie walked backwards around to the back of the sofa and leaned against it, Remus followed. "Bend me over the couch and fuck me," she said urgently, shivering as this earned her a growl. One of his hands shot out to grab the back of her head and he brought her in for a searing kiss. His other hand began undoing her jeans. He popped the button and lowered the zipper, then slipped his hand inside to see how wet she was. _Her_ hands were busy undoing the buttons of his shirt in record time. Remus slid two fingers into her, swallowing her moan.

"You want to know what I can smell?" he asked her, breaking their kiss. She nodded. His nostrils flared. "I can smell your pussy. I can smell how wet you are. Gods, Jeannie, you're gagging for it - aren't you?" His voice was strained. She nodded again.

"Fuck me, Remus. Fuck me hard. Fuck me _now,_" she ordered, going for his pants. Once undone, she removed his hand from her jeans and simply pulled them down, taking her panties with them, then turned around and braced herself on the back of the couch. She turned her head and looked at him challengingly.

"Come on."

Remus ran a hand down her back as he positioned himself at her entrance. Once in place, he grabbed her hips and surged forward, burying himself to the hilt. She cried out and he began pounding. They both knew they didn't have much time. The room was filled with moans and groans and the sound of skin slapping against skin. Remus was delirious with pleasure, but he needed her to come with him, so he slipped a hand around to rub her clit while taking her even harder. She cried out again and bucked her hips. He draped himself over her back and growled in her ear "Come, Jeannie," and that was all it took. Her whole body seized up, every muscle clenched and she screamed. Her pussy tightened like a vice around him and he couldn't have held back if his life depended on it. He shouted as he bucked violently and spurted inside her, her body's contractions milking him.

They stayed that way for a minute while they got their breathing under control, then Remus raised himself up off her back and pulled out of her, enjoying the way her body grabbed at him as if it didn't want him to go. He pulled his pants up and buttoned them, then gently pulled Jeannie's upper body against his and ran his mouth along her shoulder and neck. She turned her head and they kissed again, then she pulled away so she could pull her pants up. She was completely unprepared for the sound of Remus suddenly giggling behind her. Jeannie lifted her head to look at him and raised an eyebrow. His laughter just got worse.

"I'm sorry," he said breathlessly. "I really am - its just that _this,_" he gestured between them, "does not happen to me. Ever. In fact I'm not quite sure that I haven't dreamt it all up. If it weren't for the fact that everything smells like you - including me - oh shit!" he said suddenly, looking over her shoulder. "It's five-to-ten. You have to go. You can floo from here, if you like."

Jeannie hurriedly finished doing up her jeans, then moved to Remus' fireplace, finding her sweater and throwing it on. "It's alright, I sent all my stuff before I came here, I'll just floo straight to his office," she said, turning to Remus and smiling at him. They looked at each other for a moment, then she leaned up and kissed him softly. "Bye," she whispered, and in a _whoosh_ of green flame, she was gone.

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Author's note: Well, that ended with a bang. Literally. I hadn't originally planned it that way, but it was the only scenario that seemed to fit well, so that's what's written. Please review.

P.S. I'm making Jeannie and Tonks the same age, which is about thirteen years younger than Remus and Sirius.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	5. Life After Hogwarts The Aftermath

Author's note: The next few chapters will be full of plot. I'm trying to make the transition to OotP as cleanly as possible, so please bear with me. Also, I don't know if I'm doing a good job unless you review, so please let me know what your thinking.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 5: Life After Hogwarts/ The Aftermath

After checking the wards around his cottage, Remus opened the door and stepped inside. He went through the sitting room and into the kitchen where he sat down the groceries he'd been carrying. Sighing sadly, he cast cooling charms on the room, and started putting things away. His cottage wasn't terribly big, but it was his. He had bought it outright with what he'd been able to save from his teacher's salary. It may be modest, but it was all he needed, and came complete with a large, underground basement which he had immediately warded with the strongest spells he knew.

Remus still got physically ill whenever he thought of what had happened on the last full moon, and he vowed once again to do whatever necessary to ensure that _never_ happened again. He hadn't gotten that close to killing since his reckless school days and back then he'd had two large animals capable of keeping him at bay or killing him if necessary. Last week, he'd only had Sirius - and Sirius was hardly in his prime at the moment. He shuddered. Harry had come to see him the day after, when he was frantically packing his things and trying to leave before the parents showed up with torches and pitch forks, demanding he be burned at the stake. Remus could hardly look at the boy. The last remnant of James, the boy who had Lily's eyes - he bit back the tears that threatened yet again.

After finishing with the groceries, Remus made himself a cup of tea and went back to the sitting room, sinking into the only chair he had. It was a lovely chair, plush and overstuffed and the upholstery was a very soft brown swede. His father had given him the chair many years ago, as a housewarming gift for Remus' first flat. It was one of very few personal possessions that he hadn't pawned or sold over the years and it's very existence made his world just a bit more tolerable. He had spent many happy hours in that chair, reading or recovering from the full moon, and had fallen asleep in it on countless occasions. _It really was an excellent chair,_ he thought, sinking deeper and enjoying the way the chair seemed almost to hug him.

The afternoon sunlight streamed in through the open curtain, creating a peaceful warmth and Remus felt himself beginning to drift off when he suddenly heard a tapping. Opening his eyes, he looked to the window where a brown owl was trying to get his attention. He got up, crossed the room and opened the window. The owl swooped in gracefully and landed on his chair, holding it's leg out. Remus approached the owl, took the scroll of parchment off it's leg and offered it a bit of one of his biscuits. The owl ate it gratefully, hooted his thanks, and flew back out the still-open window.

Remus sunk back into his chair and unrolled the parchment. There, in an elegant scrawl, were three words. _All is well_. He sighed in relief. Sniffing the parchment, he tried to determine when this had been written. Recently, he thought, as it positively reeked of dog. Sirius' face wasn't on the front page of the _Prophet_ anymore, but he was still No.1 Most Wanted, and Remus knew people were still looking for him. He had given the Ministry a huge black eye with his escape and subsequent evasion, and there was no way that they were going to simply forget about him. As long as he was able to write occasionally, though, he must be alright - well, as all right as it was possible to be. Remus would have loved for Sirius to come and hide out at his cottage, but he knew that would be too risky. There were too many people that remembered them from their school days, and now that everyone knew he was a werewolf, there was that distrust as well. He was honestly surprised that he hadn't had a visit from a Ministry official since leaving the school.

He wondered if he and Sirius would ever have the opportunity to have the conversation - and probably fight - that they needed to have. Remus remembered all too well the level of suspicion and mistrust generated in the first war, and it hurt him greatly that Sirius - of all people - thought he had been a spy. It made sense, logically, since he was a werewolf and had had to make contacts with the underworld during missions for Dumbledore, but in his youth he had believed that the Marauders would rise above that. They were better than brothers, closer than family he had thought, and he had lost what innocence he had left the night James and Lily died. And yet, he could never come to terms with it. Dumbledore himself had been the one to tell him what happened and, even then, it didn't make sense. He thought, perhaps, that it was simply his unwillingness to believe that he had been wrong about Sirius from the start, but something about it was always off.

Now, however, even with the mental (and physical) trauma of that night in the Shrieking Shack with the kids and Sirius and Peter, he had a sense of peace. Even though that night had ended in disaster, he was sleeping better. There was no constant nagging in the back of his mind that he had missed something important - now he _knew_ what really happened. Peter had admitted it. The lousy, stinking traitor had stood before him and admitted it. His heart had broken for a second time, then, but now he thought he might have a chance of piecing it back together instead of living with the shards. Things had been resolved, the people who mattered knew the truth, and he felt the healing had really begun. As with all progress, though, it was going to take some time.

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Sirius and Buckbeak had flown until the first rays of dawn began in the east and it became simply too dangerous to carry on. Finding a secluded wood, they had stopped and rested for the day, planning on continuing their journey as soon as night fell. About mid-afternoon, Sirius was startled to see an owl circling above them, clearly seeking him out. Weighing his options, he made himself visible to the owl, who promptly swooped down in front of him. On the owl's leg was a rather large package. Sirius untied it and croaked a 'thank you' to the owl who hooted in response and took off again. Despite the package's size, it was very light, and Sirius was astounded upon opening it to find it filled to the brim with food.

There was a note on top of the food in Dumbledore's handwriting. The old man had thought that Sirius may be able to move faster if he didn't have to scrounge for food for a few days, so he'd asked the house-elves to pack a picnic for six, figuring that this would last at least a week. He'd also asked them to put preserving charms on the food and a lightening charm on the box so that it wouldn't be too cumbersome. Sirius nearly wept at this. It had been so long since anyone had done anything remotely friendly for him (he didn't count people throwing him scraps when he pretended to be a stray), and it felt _good_. He immediately tore into a still-warm chicken leg and sighed happily.

After a rather substantial meal, he propped himself against a tree and dozed while listening to Buckbeak hunt. He would have gladly shared his food with the hippogriff, but the animal hadn't seemed interested in cooked food. Instead, he'd found a family of hedgehogs and was much happier with that. Listening to Buckbeak crunch the bones, Sirius felt a wave of peace settle over him. Yes, he was still being hunted by the Ministry and yes, most people still thought he was a deranged killer, but the truth _had_ come out. Harry and Remus believed him and that was all that mattered. He hadn't succeeded in killing Peter, but Harry and Remus _knew_.

_What a night_, he thought. He'd been hiding in the tunnel of the Whomping Willow when he'd seen Peter. Actually, no, he hadn't seen Peter- he'd heard the Weasley boy _talking_ to Peter. He remembered his fur standing on end and rage overtaking him. Without a second thought and certainly without a plan, he had attacked, aiming for the rat but catching the boy instead. He remembered the boy screaming in pain and Peter squealing in fear as he dragged them both all the way to the Shrieking Shack. He remembered the taste of blood and forcing the boy to the upstairs room before transforming, wrestling the boy's wand from him and waiting for Harry to get there. He knew that simply killing a rat wouldn't do any good, he _needed_ to show Harry the truth.

Sirius hadn't counted on the girl. That little lioness standing in front of Harry with eyes as wild as her hair and wand at the ready. She'd caught him off guard with her pronouncement that he'd have to kill all of them if he wanted to kill Harry. He'd told her no, there would only be one death that night, but she hadn't understood. They didn't get it - they didn't know. He'd tried to explain, but it was as though he'd lost his command of the English language. Then Harry had attacked him - and Sirius had let him. There was no way he was going to hex Harry. He couldn't - not when every time he looked at him he saw James. He knew he deserved every bit of anger and hatred that Harry had in him and he'd accepted it willingly.

Then, out of the blue, Remus showed up. Seeing his old friend after all these years was bittersweet. As he lay on the floor with a bleeding lip, thanks to Harry, he'd had half a mind to get on his knees and beg for forgiveness. The years had obviously not been kind to Remus and Sirius felt he was to blame for that, too. Instead, a miracle happened. Remus had offered him his hand and helped him up. They had embraced like the brothers they'd once been and Remus said he believed him! He'd seen Peter's name on the map with the kids and had known then that something was terribly wrong. Sirius let Remus take over explaining to the kids - he'd always been better at making sense out of madness while Sirius and James had tended to simply go along with the insanity.

Then that girl had astounded him again. It had taken him and James the better part of two years to figure out that Remus was a werewolf, but it had taken this slip of a girl a matter of months. He'd never seen anything like her. She also made reasonable arguments as to why Peter and Scabbers couldn't possibly be one and the same. Remus had taken all of this in stride, and Sirius reckoned that she was probably the same way in the classroom. The girl was quick, intelligent, cool-headed and Sirius found himself glad that Harry had this girl on his team. She was also fiercely loyal, and he knew that she would be a force to be reckoned with when she grew up. It suddenly came as no surprise to him that the cat who'd been helping him belonged to her - in fact, it fit perfectly.

In the middle of everything, however, a new scent came into the room. Sirius didn't recognize it, and he soon got distracted. That was a mistake, as a few minutes later, that greasy little shit pulled James' cloak off and attacked Moony. Sirius was beside himself, but the kids got there first, disarming Snape with so much force that he was thrown against the wall and knocked unconscious. The girl looked more terrified at the thought that she had just attacked a teacher than she'd ever been of him and Sirius almost laughed at her. He'd had enough, though, and after untying Remus, went straight for the rat. This was going to end tonight- someway, somehow.

Sirius almost couldn't believe how the rat had groveled. After forcing Peter back into human form, he'd gone around the room begging for his life. First he tried Remus, not realizing that Moony and Padfoot were united once again since he hadn't been listening to the conversation going around him while he was squeaking in terror on the bed. Next he move to the Weasley boy- Ron- and appealed to him on the basis that he'd been a good pet, a good rat. Ron had looked disgusted and turned away from him. Then he tried the girl- Hermione- who'd backed away and looked at him as though she'd found better things on the bottom of her shoe. Finally, he had the gall to turn to Harry, and that's when Sirius stepped in. There was no way in hell that Sirius was going to let that back-stabbing bastard anywhere near his godson.

Grabbing Peter by the collar, he'd thrown him to the floor and prepared - with Remus by his side - to kill him. Harry had stepped in, then, with a sense of mercy that Sirius had lost many years ago. Standing in front of the wands, his godson made the argument that this wasn't what James would have wanted. It had taken a monumental effort on Sirius' part, but he had lowered his wand. It seemed that he couldn't say no to Harry any better than he'd been able to say no to James. He'd watched Remus conjure ropes to contain the traitor and Ron had volunteered to help carry him to the castle. He'd been stuck levitating Snape out of the tunnel, but that was okay, because it gave him a chance to talk to Harry. And then the unthinkable happened.

Unbelievable bad luck followed by the most amazing good luck. That was the only way that Sirius could describe the evening's rather appalling turn of events. He remembered thinking what a beautiful night it was and how good it would feel to walk through the Hogwarts grounds again- as a free man, that is. Harry had told him that he wanted to live with him when all this was sorted out, and he couldn't have been happier. Until he looked up. Taking a deep, healing breath of clean night air, he'd let his head fall back so he could gaze at the sky- and what he saw made his blood run cold. The moon- full and large, just beginning to peek out from behind a cloud. He'd turned to look at Remus and saw his friend go rigid. Their eyes met and Sirius' world came crashing down around him again.

As quickly as he could, he told the kids to run, to let him handle this - even though he knew that, as weak as he was, there wasn't going to be much he could do. He watched the kids' horrified faces as Remus transformed and prayed that he would be able to distract him long enough for them to get inside. Then, to make things worse, Peter transformed and escaped, taking with him Sirius' last chance of salvation that night. He wasn't too clear on the next part. He remembered fighting with Remus, and Remus running off into the forest at the sound of a howl, but after that it became fuzzy. The next thing he knew, he was sitting in the Astronomy tower spilling his guts to Dumbledore.

He told him everything - from finding out about Remus' condition as a kid, to figuring out how to become animagi, to not trusting himself to keep James and Lily's secret. He told him about sneaking out of school on the full moons to keep Remus company and, after a while, finding ways out of the Shrieking Shack as well. Dumbledore had kept quiet while Sirius talked, and when Sirius was done, the old man had smiled at him. He told Sirius that something never sat quite right with him about James and Lily's deaths. There was always some nagging bit of uncertainty, but now it all made sense. He told Sirius that he believed him. Sirius' heart swelled for a moment until Dumbledore told him that, even though he believed Sirius' story, there was still the matter of convincing the Ministry.

Sirius hung his head, knowing that without Peter, there was no way. He had not acted like an innocent man, he knew, but how was he supposed to act? It wasn't as though innocence advocates were in and out of Azkaban on a regular basis, ready and willing to hear the tale of a man who'd supposedly gone insane. He'd been sent to prison without a trial, so he hadn't been able to argue his innocence then, either. And even if he'd had a trial, his version of events didn't make sense without proof and he had no way of knowing where the rat had gone until he saw that picture of the Weasley family in the _Daily Prophet_ twelve years later. He was screwed, plain and simple.

Until the girl came for him. Blasting the door off of his make-shift cell, she broke him out with the help of his godson on the back of a _hippogriff_. Amazing. He didn't know how they had done it and, quite frankly, he didn't much care. All he knew was that fate had given him another chance and he would be a fool not to take it. After hugging Harry and Hermione goodbye- the first hugs he'd had in thirteen years- he'd climbed onto Buckbeak's back and ridden him into the sunset- er- sunrise. It wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind, but it would do. He was still free, sort of, and this was as good as it was going to get for now. The point was that Harry knew. He _knew_. And that made all the difference in the world.

Sighing heavily, he looked at Buckbeak. "Ready for some more exercise?"

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Author's note: The lovely Ms. Rowling has not provided us with what happened to Sirius and Remus after the Shrieking Shack, so I made up my own version. Please review!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	6. New Recruit

Author's note: I know I said that the next few chapters would be plot, but I've decided that's really not necessary. We all know what happens at the end of GoF and I'm not changing any of that. So, let's get back to Jeannie. Thanks to **kvdsouza **for the review and insight! Please review!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 6: New Recruit

"What would you say if I told you that Sirius Black was innocent?"

Jeannie put down the sandwich she had been nibbling on and looked at her best friend. "What's up, Tonks?" she said.

"What do you mean?" the pink-haired witch asked, too innocently.

"I mean that you've been fucking cryptic about everything since last week when you said you wanted to meet for lunch. What's going on? Is something wrong? Are you in trouble? And don't even try lying to me!" Jeannie said, finally losing patience. Tonks _had_ been very strange all week and she'd just about had enough. This was the third _'what would you say...' _question that Tonks had posed since they'd sat down and it was making Jeannie nervous. Since they were fifteen years old, they had never kept secrets from each other, and she had a feeling that Tonks was about to come clean with a biggie. She watched as her companion very subtly drew her wand and cast a _Muffliato_ on the area around their table, then turn back to her.

"You-Know-Who is back. Harry Potter really did fight him. Peter Pettigrew is alive and Sirius Black was framed. I have joined a secret society headed by Albus Dumbledore and we are fighting back. I want you to join," Tonks said, knowing that it was best to put it all out there and let Jeannie sort through it in her own way.

Jeannie was silent for several seconds while she digested all of this. Finally, she raised an eyebrow and said, simply, "Explain."

Tonks did. For the next half-hour she told Jeannie everything - even things that she wasn't supposed to discuss until Jeannie was officially inducted into the Order. She knew her friend, though, and she knew that after today, the Order would have one more in it's ranks.

" -all these disappearances, all this shit that 'didn't happen' according to the Ministry, it's all linked back to _him_. That's the only way that any of it makes sense. You're not blind, Jeannie. I know you've been following things real closely" she said, earnestly.

Jeannie nodded slowly. "Yeah, I have. All during the tour, I was reading the English papers when I could get them. Even the Muggles have been noticing things," she said.

"It's just going to get worse," Tonks said. "The Ministry is flat out denying that anything is wrong, and they've got the newspapers in their back pocket. Anyone who speaks out is being taken in for questioning. It's only a matter of time before people start getting blacklisted. This is how it started last time, too."

"There is going to be a war, isn't there?" Jeannie asked seriously.

"Yeah," Tonks nodded. "There is. I know you, Jeannie. I know you won't be able to sit on the sidelines. Please join us - we need you."

Jeannie looked at Tonks' expression and knew that her friend was telling the truth. She had been paying attention, and none of the 'official' reports made sense. The Ministry was definitely hiding something and, as Tonks started explaining, the pieces finally fell into place. Jeannie didn't want to believe that it was happening, but she wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing. She'd always been able to look past the surface to see what was really going on. Tonks was right, she couldn't sit by and do nothing. If there was going to be a war, she was going to fight in it.

"Alright," she said to Tonks. "I'm in."

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The sitting room was fairly full due to Harry finally being there. He and Ron were locked in a fierce battle of chess, with Sirius and Remus watching on. Ginny and Hermione were poring over the new issue of _Witch Weekly_, and the twins were being suspiciously quiet in the far corner of the room. There was an Order meeting in a little less than an hour, and Tonks had told them that she'd found someone she thought would make an excellent addition to their ranks. The strange thing, though, was that she categorically refused to give any information about this person. They had all asked her for details at least once since the last meeting, when Tonks had made her announcement, but she had just smiled and walked away - not even budging when Moody threatened to use Legilimency on her. Remus, for one, didn't know what to think. He was sure that she had almost winked at him the last time he asked her about it, but Tonks was a friendly person and it wasn't unusual for her to wink at someone.

Just then, the distinct _clunk_ of Moody's wooden leg could be heard coming down the hall, and a moment later the man himself stood in the doorway - his good eye moving around the room and waiting to be acknowledged. Remus and Sirius shared a look, knowing from experience what that meant. The battle-scarred Auror had something important to say and he wanted everyone's attention. Sirius tapped the chess board to get the boys' attention, and Remus looked at Hermione who shushed Ginny. The twins quieted as well, being far more aware of their surroundings than they were given credit for.

"Right. I want everyone in the formal dining room. Now!" Moody barked, making them all jump to their feet.

"The kids, too- ?" Sirius started.

"Everyone!" Moody repeated, already headed down the hall.

Sirius looked to Remus who shrugged. All they could do was follow, and try to figure it out later. They trailed behind Moody, single-file, to the dining room. He opened the door, then stepped aside , gesturing for the others to go in and grumbling when they weren't quick enough. The last time Remus had been in the Black family dining room was when he and Sirius had gone through Grimmauld Place to see if it would be suitable for headquarters. The room had been thick with cobwebs and over a decade's worth of dust, and Remus had stumbled out of it, gagging. Apparently Moody had cleaned it up somewhat- probably for the purpose of whatever they were doing right now- and , although it was still a mess, Remus was able to breathe.

The room's furniture had been shoved to the walls to create a large, open space in the middle - almost like an arena. The other Order members were already there, sitting on the dining chairs, with the exception of Tonks. She was standing at one end of the cleared space, wand in hand and looking ready to do battle. She was facing someone at the other end who was wearing a long, black hooded cloak- not an inch of skin could be seen, but peeking out of one of the robe's sleeves was a wand. The person in the cloak was also in an aggressive stance, and it was clear that there was going to be some kind of demonstration. Remus and Sirius took places behind the kids and leaned against the wall.

Molly looked up as the kids filed in and stood. "Now, Alastor, the children don't need to be here for this, do they?" she asked, always the mother hen.

"They do," he growled, "It's better they see a bit of dueling here, in a controlled space, than have to make it up as they go when they get caught unprepared."

"Now, see here- " she started, but Arthur cut in.

"Molly, dear, I think he's right. This is just a demonstration, there won't be anything too serious thrown around, and the kids won't be participating," he said.

She looked like she was thinking about arguing, but decided against it, sitting back down and huffing her displeasure.

"Excellent," said Dumbledore, clapping his hands together. "Alastor, shall we begin?"

Moody grunted and walked to the middle of the space, between the two opponents. "Now, I want a nice, clean game- from both of you!" he said, looking to Tonks, who nodded, then to her rival, who also nodded from under the cloak. "Right- I'm going to walk to the side of the ring," as he spoke a golden ring appeared around the outer edge of the cleared space. "When I get there I'm going to count to three. On three, you begin- not before, got it?" Another nod from both duelers. Moody grunted again and started limping to the edge. When he crossed the ring, he turned to the spectators. "This ring will protect us on this side from any wayward curses or hexes. However, CONSTANT VIGILANCE." This brought a snort from the guest in the robe and Moody whipped his head around and narrowed his eyes in their direction. He raised his wand "ONE, TWO, THREE!" he roared, bringing his wand down in a shower of sparks.

Nothing happened.

The two duelers stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity before the robed one decided to make a move. Fast as lightning, the challenger waved their wand and sent a jet of purple light towards Tonks to start the fun. Tonks blocked it and sent a silver jet back. After that, it was a free-for-all. They ducked and rolled and sent hexes at each other so quickly that even Remus with his extra senses was having trouble keeping up. It was a good thing that Moody had cleared as much space as he did, because those two were using every inch of it. The mystery fighter managed to keep their robe on, but it did blow back once, showing a decidedly feminine black denim-clad leg and a black boot. Remus looked at Sirius who smirked.

The show went on for nearly 20 minutes, with neither opponent showing any signs of fatigue. Spells ricotched off the barrier that Moody had erected, and the air crackled with the intensity of the battle. Sirius thought to himself that whoever this was either truly hated Tonks, or was her best friend. He remembered when he and James were students of Moody's and they'd had to fight each other. They knew the other so well that the contest could literally go on forever with no-one winning. That's what he decided he was watching here. This girl was Tonks' best friend and probably had been for a long time. Then, suddenly, the atmosphere shifted. The cloaked dueler became aggressive, no longer content with the status quo. She began firing hex after hex - at first it looked random, but Remus quickly recognized a pattern.

"She's going to take her here," he muttered to Sirius.

"Nah - she's just tired and wants to end it," Sirius replied.

"No, watch." And, sure enough Remus was right. Within seconds, the robed one had Tonks' wand in her hand and Tonks herself accepting defeat.

All was silent until Moody began clapping. The others followed suit, and Tonks and her opponent both took a bow. The applause died down and Moody removed the protective barrier and approached the girls. "That was some excellent dueling, you two," he said, and the girls high-fived.

"It certainly was," said Dumbledore. "Now, may we be allowed to know the identity of our newest member? As long as there are no objections, of course- " he added, looking around at the audience. Everyone shook their heads. They would be happy to have such a strong witch on their side, no matter who she was. "Good. Now, Miss, would you please remove your robe?" he asked, addressing the mystery girl.

Slender hands went to the clasp and undid it, then drew it open and threw it off, revealing a beautiful young woman in her early twenties. She had long dark hair that fell to her waist and was tied back with a thick fringe and, although short, she was very well proportioned with a small waist and all the curves she needed without having too much. Her eyes were as dark as her hair and she wore very little make-up, only enough to accentuate her natural beauty. She wore all black, from her boots to her jeans to her sleeveless, v-neck blouse which only served to highlight her clear, creamy skin.

"Ah, Miss Jones," Dumbledore said, "I thought it might be you."

Sirius felt rather than saw Remus stiffen slightly next to him and looked at his friend. Remus was staring at this 'Miss Jones' as if she were a ghost. Sirius nudged him and raised an eyebrow. Remus shook his head and gave Sirius a look that said 'later'. Sirius shrugged and turned his attention back to the new recruit, who was now getting smothered by Molly Weasley. The older woman embraced the girl as if she was her own daughter and the girl clearly returned the affection. Arthur was also looking at her fondly.

"Jeannie, dear," Molly was saying, "I didn't know you were back in the country. We haven't seen you for so long! You will stay for dinner, won't you?"

"Love to, mom," Jeannie replied, making the matriarch swell with pride, and surprising Sirius with her American accent. "If you're sure there's enough."

"There's always enough for you, sweetie," said Arthur, coming in for his hug.

Then Tonks spoke up. "For those of you who have been living under a rock- or _on_ a rock in the middle of the North Sea," she said, smirking at Sirius who made a face at her, "this is Jeannie Jones. She used to be an acrobat in the circus, then decided that she liked singing better, and now she's taking a break from her career to help us fight old snake-face. She's also my best mate, so be nice."

Jeannie suddenly sniffled and pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. "That was beautiful, Tonksie. Really," she said, laughing when Tonks stuck her tongue out at her.

"Shades of me and James," Sirius said quietly to Remus. The werewolf nodded and smiled fondly at the memories.

"Oh, Jeannie," Molly said abruptly, "Charlie's going to visit in about a week - won't that be lovely?"

"Sure, mom," said Jeannie appeasingly, sharing a look with Tonks. "It'll be great to catch up."

"Hey, Jeannie!" shouted one of the twins. "Remember us?" he asked, grinning.

"Hard to forget you two," she said, walking over to them and smiling. "How's everybody been?"

Sirius looked questioningly at Remus.

"She played a concert at Hogwarts two years ago," Remus explained. "If I remember correctly, she got stuck dancing between the twins at one point."

"Two years ago, huh?" said Sirius. "You mean the year you taught?" he clarified, watching Remus' face flush slightly.

"Ah - yes, that year," Remus answered, not looking at Sirius.

"Do you think she remembers you?" Sirius asked, grinning as Remus' flush grew.

"There is - ah - that possibility, yes" said Remus evasively.

Sirius chuckled quietly and had to admit he was impressed. Looking over at Jeannie, who was still talking to the kids, he couldn't help but ogle a bit. The black boots she wore were motorcycle boots- he recognized them instantly because he'd had a pair just like them before Azkaban. The jeans she wore were form-fitted, and oh, what a form! The blouse also seemed as if it had been tailored for her specifically. Nipped in perfectly at the waist, it had buttons down the front and a 'v' neckline- on a man it would have been called a vest. She had a small chest, but it was perfect for her small frame. Sirius thought she was probably only about five feet tall. Perfect.

A sharp elbow to the ribs ended his musings. He turned to glare at Remus who glared back. "She's not steak, Padfoot. Quit drooling" he said.

"I'm not drooling, Moony- I'm _appreciating_. Big difference," Sirius replied, pouting.

"Well, do you think you could do it a bit more subtly? We don't want to scare her off!"

"Did you see how she just handled my cousin? I doubt _I'm_ going to do anything to scare her off."

"That's not the point- "

"You're being awfully protective, Moony. Something I should know?"

Remus opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Both men turned to find the object of their bickering standing right in front of them, smirking knowingly. Next to her stood Tonks with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry to interrupt, boys, but I thought you might like to be introduced properly, rather than simply ogling from afar," said Tonks sarcastically.

Jeannie chuckled and reached up to pull Remus in for a hug. "How are you?" she asked him.

"Okay," he said as he pulled back, blushing. "Allow me to introduce Sirius Black."

Jeannie turned to Sirius and stuck out her hand. Sirius took it with a little hesitation. "I assume by the fact that you're not screaming and running away, that Tonks told you I'm innocent," he said.

"Yeah, she explained everything - you don't have to worry about me," she said, smiling at him.

"Nah," Tonks interjected, "it's _you_ who's gonna have to worry about _him,_" stabbing her thumb in Sirius' direction.

Sirius turned to his cousin with a highly affronted look on his face. "I'm starting to feel a bit picked on," he said. He turned back to Jeannie. "Have I done or said anything inappropriate?" he asked her.

"Nope," Jeannie shook her head.

"You see?" Sirius turned back to Remus and Tonks. "I'm sure I will, at some point," he said. "But how about waiting until I do, and then yelling at me?"

Jeannie laughed, but before any of them could respond, Moody announced that it was time for the meeting. Molly began shooing the kids up to their bedrooms, while Tonks grabbed Jeannie's arm and started leading her down to Grimmauld Place's kitchen. On the way, she explained about the house, as she hadn't been able to before because of the Fidelius Charm. Now that Jeannie knew about it, though, it was okay to talk about. Unfortunately, as they walked down the main hallway, Tonks tripped on some hideous umbrella stand and Jeannie got the fright of her life as a moldy set of curtains to her right burst open and an old hag-looking woman in a portrait started screaming at her. She leapt back in alarm only to slam into a hard body whose arm snaked around her waist protectively.

Jeannie turned her head to see that is was Sirius holding her. "It's alright," he said, looking down at her, "just my mother."

Sirius let go of her so he could help Remus wrestle the old woman's curtains closed. They put up a hell of a fight, and both men were sweating slightly by the time they finished. They all tiptoed very quietly the rest of the way to the kitchen, and when they arrived, Sirius explained to Jeannie that his parents had been typical pureblood bigots and that, even in death, his mother did not appreciate him filling the house with the sort of people she hated. Then everyone took seats and Dumbledore called the meeting to order.

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Author's note: I hadn't planned on updating so soon, but since I had this chapter ready and waiting, I figured I'd go ahead and put it out there. Please review!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	7. Jeannie's First Meeting

Author's note: Thank you to the people who have fav/followed this story. I will try to update at least once a week, and I wanted to get this chapter up a couple of days ago, but my internet was down. My apologies. Also, please send me some reviews. Even a one-word message is helpful, just to let me know you approve (or not). I've only gotten two so far, but they made me feel so loved! This chapter may be a bit short on dialogue, but I'm trying to establish where Jeannie fits in, particularly with Tonks and the Weasleys. More talking in the next chapter, I promise. Anyway, on to the story!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 7: Jeannie's First Meeting

The meeting went well, all things considered. Jeannie took a seat next to Tonks who filled her in on the particulars of each person as they gave their reports. There were more 'disappearances', more unexplained happenings- but that was to be expected. At least things were starting to make sense. What Jeannie was hearing here was everything that wasn't being printed or admitted to in public. All the little pieces of news that didn't quite fit together properly, all the explanations that were just a bit incomplete. This was what Jeannie was hoping for, and she was glad that Tonks had brought her in. She also understood now the need for all the secrecy. Sirius' status aside, there were several Order members who were also Ministry employees- some rather high-ranking, like Kingsley Shacklebolt, and from what Tonks told her, Jeannie knew that if it was known what they were doing in their spare time, it would mean a lot of trouble for them.

One thing she kept hearing, however, was how things were happening now 'just like last time'. Jeannie knew a little about the first war, but she quickly realized that she needed to know a lot more. Luckily for her, the people who had fought on the front lines last time were all easily accessible to her now. She figured that Moody would love to tell her about all the Death Eaters he had to battle. Maybe she could corner him after the meeting and pick his brain a little. Remus, too, since she already knew him. It would be good for her to know- or at least have an idea- what was going to happen next.

She was surprised at how many people she already knew. The Aurors in the group she knew simply by virtue of being friends with Tonks. Mad-eye had recruited Tonks personally when he'd come to the school during their NEWT exams. He'd tried to bring Jeannie in as well, but she hadn't been sure about a career with the Ministry, so she'd passed. Kingsley she knew because he was Tonks' boss now that she'd completed all her training and exams. She knew Arthur and Molly because she and Tonks had been friends with Charlie in school and had even dated him at different times and they both got along well with Bill who'd been two years ahead of them.

She was also a little surprised to see Professor Snape there. Jeannie and Tonks had been his students, and she had never thought of him as a 'group activity' sort of person. She was even more surprised to find out that he was a Death Eater- or, at least, had been. Reformed, apparently, but she still caught suspicious glances from several members. He didn't seem to notice or care, though, so she put that on her mental list of questions to ask Tonks after the meeting. In any event, she was sure that Dumbledore wouldn't have him in the Order if he didn't trust him.

As the meeting drew to a close, Dumbledore asked if anyone had any questions. Jeannie raised her hand.

"Sorry, everyone, I'll be quick," she said, knowing most of them probably wanted to get home. "Remus, who's making your Wolfsbane?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sirius' eyes widen in shock.

Remus blinked at her. "Um, Severus is," he said, surprised.

Jeannie nodded. "That's what I thought." She turned to the Potions Master. "I don't know if you remember, Professor, but for my Potions NEWT I made the Wolfsbane potion and got full marks. I know how time-consuming it is and I'd be more than happy to take over for you if you'd like" she offered. Dumbledore hadn't given her a job yet, and she was eager to help out.

Snape raised an eyebrow. "That would be... helpful," he drawled. "Assuming, of course, that Lupin is acceptable."

Remus looked over at Jeannie and thought about asking her if she'd made the potion _since_ her NEWT exams, but something in her smile told him that she wouldn't have offered unless she was completely confident in her ability. So, ignoring Sirius' pointed stare, he nodded.

"Fine by me," he said.

"Good," Jeannie said, smiling at him again. "Also, I think I want to bring someone in."

"Oh?" said Dumbledore.

"Yes. It may be a bit unorthodox because this person is not a wizard," she said, shocking everyone.

"Not a wizard?" Dumbledore repeated.

Jeannie shook her head. "No, he's not a wizard - but he is a werewolf."

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Sirius sat there, flabbergasted. _Who the fuck is this girl?,_ he wondered as he heard Dumbledore give Jeannie the okay to talk to this friend of hers and then call the meeting to a close. He'd been sneaking glances at her all through the meeting, and the more he saw and heard, the more confused he became. Granted, his social skills were pretty much in the toilet after so many years alone, but he hadn't realized he was _that_ rusty at reading people. Perhaps it was just her. Or maybe girls had changed since the last time he'd gotten to know one. Maybe it was a circus thing. Sirius didn't know anything about circus girls, and now he was regretting his oversight.

It wasn't just her looks throwing him off, either. It was the contrasts that got him. True, he hadn't been expecting a girl with tattoos and a nose piercing but, then again, she was Tonks' best friend and Tonks did like to be colourful. In his experience, though, most girls who wore very little make-up like Jeannie didn't have tattoos. Most girls who were intelligent didn't generally want distractions like unusual piercings taking the attention away from that. It didn't look to Sirius like she was trying to hide her natural beauty and brains under these things, rather the one seemed to enhance the other. Maybe she was just the most secure person he'd ever met. Or, maybe, she just didn't give a flying fuck about what everyone else thought. There was something strange about her, though, and he had a feeling Remus knew what it was.

That look on Remus' face when Jeannie took her cloak off after dueling Tonks said a lot. There was no doubt in Sirius' mind that Remus had met this girl before and that whatever had transpired between them had been deep. She'd _hugged_ Remus- and Remus _let_ her. That right there spoke volumes. Remus had never been one for physical contact, always being too scared of rejection. He almost never gave hugs unless he was completely comfortable with someone, and even then, he waited for _them_ to hug_ him_. However, he hadn't seemed ill-at-ease when Jeannie hugged him, just a bit embarrassed that she'd done it in front of everyone.

Now, here she was, offering to take over making Remus' potion and saying that she knew of another werewolf who might want to join them. Sirius himself, who had been best friends with a werewolf since he was eleven years old, had never met or made friends with any other lycanthrope. Not that he wouldn't, mind, he simply hadn't had the opportunity. Where had Jeannie been and what had she done in her life that she was not only accepting of Remus' condition, but accepting of other people with the same condition? Most people only accepted Remus after knowing him for a while and having a solid base for their acceptance, but in all the time Sirius had been back in Remus' company, the werewolf hadn't said a word about Jeannie Jones- and Sirius intended to find out why.

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"So, Jeannie, are you going to be touring England anytime soon?" asked Ginny, grabbing a dinner roll.

Once the meeting was over, Molly had called the children down for supper, and the Black kitchen was suddenly filled with conversation and laughter. Remus, Tonks and Jeannie had stayed and the girls were taking turns amusing the kids. Tonks was doing her usual morphing act and Jeannie was showing everyone the 'magic tricks' that she'd grown up doing in the circus.

"I don't think so, Ginny. Maybe a show here or there, but not a tour. I just got done touring Europe and I've decided to take some time off. Besides, I want to be available to help out here as much as possible," Jeannie said, getting up to help Molly clear away the dishes. Molly shooed her away, saying she'd take care of it, so Jeannie sat back down and conjured a deck of cards.

"Gin rummy?" asked Sirius from the head of the table.

Jeannie shook her head.

"Poker?" Another head shake. "Strip poker?" he asked casually, though Jeannie caught his grin.

"No, Sirius," she said laughing. "I'm going to show everyone how I got Arthur Weasley to fall in love with me."

"Oohh," said Arthur, pulling up a chair. "Are you going to do those wonderful muggle tricks?"

Jeannie blew him a kiss. "Now, the muggles like to call this kind of thing 'magic'," she said, fanning out the cards on the table and manipulating them this way and that. "But the real name for it is 'sleight of hand'. The hand is not faster than the eye, but it can be faster than the comprehension, so you have to watch closely."

The room got quiet. Magical people, even ones who weren't prejudiced against muggles, were very rarely familiar with muggle 'magic'- pulling rabbits out of hats and finding coins behind the ears of small children. They sometimes had a cursory knowledge, but Jeannie knew from experience that performing muggle 'magic' in front of a wizard generally got much the same reaction as a wizard performing real magic in front of a muggle. She'd done a bit of juggling with the rolls earlier, so now she was going to show them a few tricks that she'd shown Arthur the first time she'd met him and realized he had an obsession with muggles.

She cut the cards several different ways with one hand, tossed them around only to have them show up back in her hand, fanned them out in strange ways and made them move seemingly on their own. Each trick got _oohhh_'s and _aahhh_'s and even some applause from Arthur. It was too easy, really, and Jeannie almost laughed when she caught Sirius leaning forward in his chair trying to get a better look. She'd noticed Sirius looking at her several times during the meeting and over supper and she knew she was confusing the hell out of him.

It wasn't unusual for Jeannie to confuse people (it came with the circus territory) and, she had to admit, she didn't mind Sirius' attention. Even after all that time in Azkaban and on the run, he was still a very good-looking man. His black, shoulder-length hair was just slightly wavy and looked very soft. His eyes were steel grey and his facial structure was aristocratic with a strong jaw and well-defined cheekbones. To Jeannie he looked like he'd been the ultimate bad boy, rebelling against his parents but still enough of a gentleman to hold the door open for you. The tattoos that she could see on his forearms and under his unbuttoned shirt collar were clearly prison tattoos, but she was willing to bet that he'd had a few before going inside as well.

Tonks had told her that Sirius had owned a motorbike too, and that just completed the picture. She could imagine a twenty-year-old Sirius Black rolling up on a motorbike, probably wearing a muggle leather jacket and jeans, maybe a tattoo visible here and there... _mmmm_. As intriguing as that thought was, however, Jeannie had always preferred her men a bit older, so the vision sitting just a few chairs down from her was more to her liking. She looked up and unexpectedly met his stare. _Yes, I'd rather see that pull up on a motorbike,_ she thought to herself, the corner of her mouth twitching. She watched as he narrowed his eyes slightly and raised one eyebrow. Looking him up and down once, Jeannie went back to her cards.

_What the fuck_, Sirius thought, _did she just check me out?!_ Looking over at Remus, he concluded that she did. Remus, who had seen the exchange, was sitting in his chair with his hand over his mouth, clearly stifling laughter. _Fuck you_, Sirius mouthed at him, making the werewolf's shoulders shake with amusement. He quickly looked around the room to see if anyone else had noticed anything but, luckily for him, they all seemed to be fixated on Jeannie's tricks. Relieved, he sat back and concentrated on not embarrassing himself at the kitchen table, knowing Molly wouldn't like that with her teenaged children around.

Jeannie did a final trick, finishing with a flourish, then stood and made an exaggerated bow as the occupants of the kitchen laughed and applauded, with Arthur clapping loudest.

"Bravo, Jeannie!" Arthur said excitedly. "Wonderful! Molly, dear, did you see?"

"Yes, Arthur," Molly said patiently. "It was very good."

"What exactly did you do in the circus?" Sirius asked Jeannie.

"I was an acrobat," she answered.

"Yes, Tonks said that earlier, but I've never been to a circus so I'm afraid I don't understand" he said.

"Oh, okay, well - basically an acrobat is someone who performs physical feats of balance, coordination and agility. Look-" Jeannie took out her wand and transfigured a few of her cards into a miniature centre ring of a circus. Then she took another card and made a small doll-like figure. Making the doll do flips and cartwheels and splits, she tried to demonstrate what she did. "I did all this. Sometimes on the ground, sometimes in the air. Sometimes we did it in groups that were carefully choreographed."

"You can do all of that?" asked Ron, staring at the doll that Jeannie was currently putting through an obstacle course.

Jeannie nodded. "Yep- well, I _used_ to," she clarified.

"Can you still?" Hermione asked.

"Probably," Jeannie said, thinking. "I haven't trained for routines in a few years, but I've kept my strength and flexibility. I could still do flips and splits and things. Not tonight," she added, seeing the kids look at her expectantly. "Maybe I'll be able to show you a few things before you go back to school, though."

"How did you do all that in the air?" Sirius asked, mystified.

Jeannie chuckled. "With the help of a trapeze, of course," she said, transfiguring a few more cards for illustration.

Sirius sat back, amazed. "Wow. I like that better than the card tricks," he said, grinning.

Jeannie snorted. "Most men do."

"Alright children, bedtime," Molly announced, while Sirius gave Jeannie his best _'I don't know what you could possibly mean'_ look. Jeannie grinned at him and vanished her mini-circus and the rest of her cards.

"Are you coming by tomorrow, Jeannie?" asked Hermione as the kids finished clearing up and started heading upstairs.

"What's happening tomorrow?" Jeannie asked.

"Just more cleaning," said Sirius unenthusiatically.

"Yeah," Tonks interjected. "We're tackling the tapestry room tomorrow. You should come by- I've got the day off, so I'll be here helping."

"Alright, then," Jeannie said. "Yes, Hermione, I will be here tomorrow."

Hermione smiled. "Great! Goodnight, everyone."

"Goodnight," several voices answered her.

"Well, I suppose I should be getting home, too," Jeannie said, getting up and stifling a yawn. She gave Arthur a kiss on the cheek and hugged Molly, promising to be back in time for breakfast.

"I'll walk you out," said Tonks, getting to her feet as well.

"Fine, but don't wake up that old hag in the hallway," said Jeannie, not wanting a repeat of earlier. "No offense, Sirius," she added. It was his mother after all.

"None taken," Sirius assured her. "Please feel free to insult her as often as you like. I try to do it at least three times a day."

"Sirius!" Molly scolded while Jeannie laughed.

"Alright, guys, see you tomorrow" Jeannie said, and let Tonks lead her out of the house.

Sirius stared at the empty doorway for a moment, then turned to Remus. "Alright, let's hear it."

Remus chuckled. "You'll be proud of me, Padfoot."

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Author's note: Please review!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	8. Summer At Grimmauld

Author's Note: I'm not using a beta on this story, so I apologize for any errors that occur. I do try very hard to minimize typo's and things of that nature, but if there are any glaring oversights, please don't hesitate to tell me. Bearing in mind, of course, that it is an OC story and things will change accordingly.

Many thanks to **JamesSmith XD **for your kind words and encouragement, and to all my favs/followers.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 8: Summer At Grimmauld

True to her word, Jeannie floo'd in to Grimmauld Place early enough the next morning to snitch a few sausages from Molly. She was also just in time to send Arthur off to work. Taking a seat next to Ginny and Hermione, she talked to the girls while waiting for everyone else to drag themselves out of bed. Harry and Ron came down next, rubbing the sleep from their eyes, while the twins decided to apparate downstairs in order to scare their mother. Remus appeared shortly after and, a few minutes later, Sirius. Tonks was the last to arrive and, since she'd come through the front door instead of the floo, succeeded in waking Mrs. Black. Swearing fouly, and ignoring Molly's reproach about his language, Sirius charged towards the noise with Remus and Jeannie in tow. Jeannie had been too startled the previous night to get a good look at the old woman, and she wanted to know what she was dealing with.

_Sirius must look like his father_, Jeannie thought, as she couldn't see any of his mother in him. Good thing, too, because the woman in the portrait was truly foul. Face contorted in rage, eyes bulging, spittle flying from the mouth that was shouting insults at anyone in the vicinity, she looked like the picture of the wicked witch that muggle parents tell their children is going to come for them on Halloween night. Mrs. Black wore a long, black Victorian-era dress with a black cap sitting atop her grey hair and expensive-looking jewels glittered around her neck. All she was missing was the pointy hat and broom.

Jeannie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall while she watched the men wrestle the curtains. Tonks disentangled herself from what Jeannie now knew was an umbrella stand made out of a troll's leg and stood, glaring at the leg as though it had leapt out in front of her and deliberately knocked her over. Jeannie grinned and Tonks smiled ruefully at her as Sirius and Remus finished with the curtains. Sirius heaved a sigh and turned to glare at his younger cousin who immediately put on her best innocent face and pointed to the troll's leg. Remus rolled his eyes and Jeannie put her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Shaking his head, Sirius led them all back to the kitchen.

"Dammit, _Nymphadora_, I haven't even had a cup of coffee yet!" Sirius grouched, once they were safely out of range.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," Tonks whined "but can't we move that stupid thing? It gets me every time!"

"Yeah, why don't we put it in the attic?" Jeannie suggested. "This place does have an attic, right?"

Sirius pointed at Jeannie and looked at Tonks. "See? There's an idea! Why didn't you think of that?" he asked testily. "I have never known anyone so clumsy!"

"Oh, leave it be, Sirius," said Remus, while Tonks pouted. "It was an accident. I doubt Tonks wanted to be shouted at this early."

"Thank you, Remus!" Tonks said, sticking her tongue out at her cousin.

Jeannie leaned over toward Hermione. "Does this happen often?" she asked in a whisper.

"Almost every day," Hermione whispered back.

Jeannie rolled her eyes.

"Alright, that's enough!" Molly said, ending the bickering. "Sometimes I wonder if the children in this house don't act more like adults than you two!" She put her hands on her hips to emphasize her point as the cousins looked at her with almost identical _'what did I do?'_ faces.

After finishing breakfast, they headed upstairs to the tapestry room. Jeannie had absolutely no idea what 'tapestry room' meant, so she didn't know what to expect as she walked through the door. It wasn't so much a single tapestry as it was almost like wallpaper covering the entire room with the names, faces and important dates of every Black that had ever lived. _Wow_, she thought, as she took a minute to walk around, examining a few people on the way. She found Sirius' parents and saw that she'd been right earlier- Sirius _did_ look like his father. A lot like him, actually. Trailing her fingers from Orion's place down to Sirius', she frowned when she found a large burn in the fabric instead of the man. Turning, she looked questioningly at Sirius who'd been watching her perusal.

"I ran away when I was sixteen," he said, answering her unspoken question. "Couldn't take it anymore. I went to James Potter's house and when my parents found out, they disowned me and blasted me off the family tree. It had been bad enough for a Black to be sorted into Gryffindor, but it was inexcusable for a Black to leave his ancestral home and move in with blood traitors."

The distaste in his voice was clear and Jeannie could tell it was a much heavier subject for him than he was letting on. That was fine - they had only just met, after all. She wasn't going to go sticking her nose into his business, so she just nodded and gave him a quick smile before stepping over to Molly to get her cleaning orders. Listening carefully to Molly's warnings about things that go bump in the day and things that may try to bite and things that may be cursed, Jeannie began to wonder if tackling this room was a good idea. From what she was hearing, it seemed as though the house was fighting back against any and all attempts to civilize it. She had volunteered, though, so she wasn't going to chicken out now. She just wished she'd thought to bring some first-aid supplies.

Sirius, for his part, found himself in a much better mood than he'd expected. Yes, there was yet another doxy infestation to deal with and yes, he was currently surrounded with the names and faces of people he hated and who hated him, but there was a silver lining. It took the form of faded denim shorts. Rather form-fitting shorts to be exact, and the form they were fitted on was one of the best he'd ever seen. It had not escaped his notice, after fighting his mother's curtains, that Jeannie had shown up in the same motorcycle boots from the previous night- only this time they were paired with the afore-mentioned shorts, a white tank top and a man's flannel shirt. He'd enjoyed watching her walk up the stairs in front of him, her lean legs and absolutely fabulous arse distracting him to the point of almost killing himself when he'd missed a step and bumped into Remus who was behind him.

"Watch it, mate," the werewolf had said quietly, with a knowing grin.

"I _am_ 'watching it'," he'd replied. "That's exactly the problem."

It wasn't just her form, either. The shorts were short enough to reveal a tattoo in the shape of a garter around her left thigh. At first, Sirius thought it was a lace pattern, but now it looked to be a set of runes wrapped around her leg. He wondered if there was a way of getting her to show him the details without being a pervert about it. Probably not, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try. He gave it some thought while taking turns killing doxies with Remus.

"Moony," he said quietly.

Remus looked up.

"What's that tattoo on her thigh?"

"I don't know," Remus shrugged.

"What do you mean you don't know? Didn't you tell me last night you two had gotten 'acquainted'?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, but that was two years ago, Pads. She didn't have that one then."

"Damn."

"Why don't you ask her?" Remus asked reasonably.

"I'm not going to ask her!" Sirius hissed. "At least not while Molly's in the room. What's wrong with you?"

Remus laughed under his breath. "You know we sound like teenagers, right?"

"Hey, Sirius?" Jeannie's voice cut in from across the room.

"Yes?" Sirius turned around, thinking they'd been caught discussing her.

"Do you know if there's anything on top of this armiore?" she asked, standing in front of a large black cabinet.

Sirius shook his head, relieved. "No I don't, but if there is don't touch it, just levitate it down."

Jeannie summoned a chair from another room and climbed up on it so she could see the top of the armiore. There was only one thing up there, apart from a thick layer of dust. A black jewelry box with silver inlay and the family crest on it. From what she'd heard, she was fairly certain that anything of this nature would be cursed, so she did as Sirius asked and used her wand to float it down, being careful to avoid having it touch anyone. Setting it on the floor, she climbed off her chair and banished it back to where it belonged.

Sirius approached the box carefully and knelt in front of it. Letting his hand hover over the top, he could feel the Dark magic living in it. His mother had favored blood curses because of their potency and that's what this felt like to him. Deciding to let Bill Weasley take a look at it the next time he was over, since Bill had much more experience due to his position as a Gringotts curse breaker, he levitated it out of the room and down the hall to his mother's old bedroom. This was his default storage room for anything suspect that he didn't want the kids- especially muggle-born Hermione- coming across by accident. In residence was the small, fanged snuff-box that had given him a rather nasty bite recently along with various and sundry jewelry and trinkets that had been left around the house as booby traps when Kreacher had discovered what Sirius intended to use his mistress' house for.

"Well," said Molly. "I think we've done enough for the morning. Let's go down and have a spot of lunch, then see if we can't knock out the rest of it this afternoon."

Everyone gladly threw down their tools, and followed the matriarch out of the room. As they started down the stairs, Jeannie saw Sirius standing in the middle of one of the bedrooms at the end of the hall. She told Tonks to go ahead; she would get Sirius and bring him down for lunch. Approaching the room, she knocked on the door-frame to get his attention. He turned his head to look at her.

"We're breaking for lunch," she said, moving into the room. "You hungry?"

He nodded. "Have you had a chance to talk to your friend?" he asked, giving her a sideways glance.

"No," she said, looking confused. "I came straight here this morning."

Sirius nodded. "I know, I just thought it might be a boyfriend," he said.

"No, actually, it's my brother," she said.

"Oh, I didn't know you had a brother," Sirius said.

Jeannie laughed. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Sirius."

"I know, but Remus didn't say anything about a brother," he said without thinking.

"Ah," Jeannie said, understanding. "You've been talking to Remus."

Sirius paused. "Of course," he said airily. "He's my best mate, he lives with me, I see him all the time. Why wouldn't I talk to him?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

Sirius shrugged, but didn't deny it. "I wanted to know who was in my house."

"Bullshit," Jeannie countered. "You wanted to know if I sucked him off." She arched an eyebrow as he spluttered, her language catching him off-guard.

"I wanted to know who you were," Sirius said. "_That_ little tidbit was an unexpected bonus, and kept me up half the night."

Jeannie laughed. "What? Only half the night? I think I'm at least good enough for a _full_ night's insomnia!" she said, teasingly.

Sirius smirked, but then his look turned dark. "Don't worry, I didn't sleep the other half of the night either, it just wasn't because of you."

She raised an eyebrow.

He sighed. "I don't sleep well in this house, Jeannie. I never have, not since I was a very small child. Too much unhappiness," he explained.

As he spoke, Jeannie watched his face darken the same way it had when he told her about the burn on the wall where his name should have been on the family tapestry. There was no doubt in her mind that Sirius was supremely unhappy at being in this house, but she really didn't want to see him wallow in his misery. She figured that could happen very easily seeing as he was cooped up here with nothing else to occupy him and she thought maybe she could make that another job of hers- like the Wolfsbane Potion. Trying to take his mind off of where he was wasn't going to be easy, especially with his mother's portrait down the hall, but she felt he was worth a shot.

"It's just a house, Sirius," she tried gently.

"No, Jeannie," he said seriously. "It's not just a house. It's the house that I swore nearly twenty years ago that I'd never set foot in again. It's the house that holds every bad childhood memory I have- and there are many. It's the house that was my first prison and has become my new prison. It is most definitely _not_ just a house."

Jeannie considered this for a moment. "Okay," she said, seeing his point.

Sirius blinked. "Okay?" he said, surprised. "You're not going to scold me for being petulant or over-dramatic? You're not going to tell me to get over myself and deal with it? You're not going to tell me that I should be grateful because at least here I'm _safe_?"

"No, Sirius," Jeannie said, smiling. "I'm not your wife or your girlfriend, and I'm _certainly_ not your mother. It's not my place to tell you to be or say or do anything. To me, it _is_ just a house. To you, it's almost everything you hate about your life right now. We're simply in different circumstances, that's all. I see where you're coming from, and I can respect it. You have the right to feel however you want to feel - I just don't want to see it consume you. We may have just met, but I'd like to be your friend, and as your friend I reserve the right to care. Okay?"

Sirius opened and closed his mouth several times, clearly at a loss. "You're very strange," he said finally.

Jeannie laughed loudly at this. "So I've been told. Come on, I'm hungry," she said, nodding towards the door.

She left the room, Sirius trailing behind her, and followed the smell of food down to the kitchen where Molly was dishing out lunch. How they were supposed to get anything done after stuffing themselves with Molly's famous shepherd's pie, Jeannie didn't know, but she wasn't about to argue the point. She loved Molly's cooking and was glad to have an excuse to sample it again. Perhaps the older woman had been right, Jeannie had been away too long. Maybe it was time to take a break and just enjoy whatever came her way for a while. Of course, this theory had nothing to do with the highly attractive and terribly broken man that she'd just met. Nothing at all. Really.

Taking a plate from Molly, Jeannie went to sit in between the twins who'd made a big show of making room for her and dusting off the seat. They gave her identical bows as she sat, then took their places on either side of her. Sirius chuckled at the boys' antics.

"Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you, boys," he asked.

"What would you suggest, Sirius? Flowers?" said one twin.

"Chocolate?" tried the other.

"Poetry?"

"Soft music?"

"Slow dancing?"

Sirius gave a long-suffering sigh and shook his head. "Boys, boys, boys," he said. "The first rule in attracting birds is to not bloody scare them off! Pulling out chairs and bowing and kissing hands is all well and good, but you have to get one close enough first! They see you pulling that stuff too early and they'll run for the hills."

"You tell 'em, Casanova," said Tonks, earning a scowl.

"Casanova is right," Remus cut in. "The girls in our graduating class held a vote on who was the most charming in our year. Apparently it was unanimous."

"See? I know what I'm talking about," Sirius said.

"Of course, that was the same year he lost a bet to James and the punishment was to run from the Entrance Hall to the Black Lake and throw himself in. Naked," Remus added.

"Oh, _thank you_, Moony," Sirius said acidly, glaring daggers at his friend as laughter erupted around the table.

"Yes, thank you, Remus!" cried Tonks, looking as though Christmas had come early.

"Were the girls standing there watching and going _'I could have sworn it was bigger than that!'_?" Jeannie teased, triggering another round of laughs.

"Oi! Watch it, you!" Sirius said, pointing at Jeannie.

"What bet did you lose, Sirius?" Ginny asked.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I bet James in our fourth year that he couldn't get Lily to date him while we were still in school. Of course he had to prove me wrong in the middle of bloody winter and I nearly froze my arse off jumping in the lake!"

"Please tell me someone got a picture of that!" Jeannie said.

"Hey, if you want to see- " Sirius began, standing and reaching for his belt buckle with a grin.

"Sirius Black!" Molly cried. "_Don't you dare!_" she said dangerously, wand in hand.

Sirius raised his hands in surrender and sat back down obediently as whistles and cat-calls echoed around the room.

They got through the rest of lunch without any more drama, although Sirius had gotten another warning look from Molly when he asked to see the tattoo on Jeannie's thigh and, to Jeannie's surprise, they did succeed in finishing the tapestry room clean-up. Apparently, they had accomplished more that morning than she'd thought. Sirius had given her an open invitation to come by whenever she wanted, and Tonks had told her to expect another Order meeting in a few days. She opted not to stay for dinner this time, though, choosing instead a nice long soak in the tub at home and Chinese take-away from the muggle restaurant down the street. Climbing into bed, she wondered at the turn her life had taken. All-in-all, she decided, she couldn't complain.

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Author's Note: In the books, Buckbeak lives in Sirius' mother's bedroom, but I'm leaving him out of the story just to make it easier on myself. As always, please review!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	9. No Longer A Lone Wolf

Author's Note: We meet the 'brother' in this chapter. In my head I picture him as a German version of Paulo Lorador from Cirque du Soleil. If you're not familiar with Cirque, google Marco and Paulo Lorador or look them up on youtube. They are absolutely amazing. Paulo is the blonde on the bottom. Also, Cirque is sort of what I have in mind for the circus Jeannie grew up in.

**Danneyland**: Thanks for the input! About Sirius' escape - in the books, you're right, he does climb through the window to get on Buckbeak, but in the movies it's an iron-bar door that Hermione blasts off, so I just picked the one I liked better. I did actually check on that after you said something, so thanks for keeping an eye out. I'm so happy that you're actually reading the story instead of just skimming through. Also, I will take your advice about asking better questions in my notes. I hadn't thought about that, so thanks again. Don't hesitate to keep in touch!

**James**: I love your reviews, you're so encouraging!

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 9: No Longer A Lone Wolf

Maximillian Kruger was a mountain of a man. Standing 6'4" and weighing 260 pounds, he was almost always the biggest guy in the room. A master of hand-to-hand balance, he had been with the circus since his early teens. Before that, he had been an only child, living with his parents in their home on the outskirts of Baden-Baden, Germany. His father had been a clock-maker and his mother a seamstress. Max had been a regular child- going to school, playing with his friends, occaisionally getting into trouble. He was a big boy, easily a head taller than his peers and his father had told him at a young age that he'd have to be extra careful because of his size. All-in-all, they lived a peaceful existance- that is, until Max became a teenager.

That was when his life had changed. When Max was thirteen years old, his family began hearing rumours of something evil. The town of Baden-Baden sat on the edge of the Black Forest and it was not too uncommon for a bear or wildcat to stray onto their property. However, this was no wildcat. The town's residents were hearing reports of a wolf-like creature, and a trail of bodies left in it's wake. It seemed as though some strange wild animal was deliberately seeking out towns and villages and hunting people. Seven bodies in six months had been found so far in the surrounding areas, and the reports were all the same.

Each person had lived just outside of town, close to the forest. Each had lived alone- except for the elderly couple in Altensteig- and all had been mauled almost beyond recognition, their bodies sometimes ripped apart limb from limb. An expert had come to town claiming to be a Professor of Natural Studies from some university in England that Max had never heard of. He visited the scenes, spoke to the residents, and even spent several days combing the woods looking for the animal. Something about this 'expert' didn't seem quite right to Max, but he just assumed that since the man was a foreigner, he was different. He had never met a foreigner, so what did he know?

His family took precautions, of course. They began locking every window and door before going to bed and Max was no longer allowed to be out after dark, just to be safe. His father had bought Max a gun and taught him how to use it. His mother, too, learned to shoot and even spent some time talking to the expert from England, who'd given her the name of his boarding house and told her to call him immediately if she heard anything. He told her to be extra careful around the full moon, because that's when the creature seemed to like to attack and under no circumstances was she to leave the safety of her house on that night.

But it was no use. In August of 1973, the moon rose full and fearsome in the sky. Max's father made one last check of the house and grounds, his mother locked up, and they went to bed. The next thing Max knew, he was woken by an ungodly howling sound coming from outside and he heard his father rushing about the house, telling his mother to get that Professor on the phone. He heard his mother talking, calling for help, and then he heard a window crash. Grabbing his gun, he headed towards the noise, and what he saw nearly scared him to death.

The creature in his house stood nearly seven feet tall and walked on it's hind legs. It looked like a cross between a wolf and a man, with an animal's muzzle and large yellow eyes. It was hunched over, eyeing Max's father carefully before suddenly making it's move. Max's father raised his gun, ready to shoot, but the creature was too quick. Screams echoed through the night as another victim fell. Max shot at the creature, but in his fright, he missed. As he aimed his gun again, it went for his mother. This time, Max did make contact, but that seemed only to enrage the creature, and it took it's anger out on his mother.

The poor woman never stood a chance, and when she was dead, it turned towards Max. The teenager emptied his gun into the creature as it stalked toward him, and it worked. Dropping to the floor in a pool of it's own blood, it let out a mournful howl and laid still. In a trance, Max approached it slowly, taking in it's features. Rough skin with patches of grey fur, long claws and even longer teeth peeking out from it's hackles. Hearing a sound at the door, Max looked up to see the Professor enter his house holding what looked like a stick in his hand. Their eyes met and, in his distraction, Max didn't notice the creature's eyes flutter open one last time. He did, however, feel the bite near his ankle and see the Professor wave his stick, shooting a green light at the monster.

That was the last thing Max remembered. When he awoke, he was in a closed ward of Gobel Babelin Wizarding Hospital in Wurzburg with the Professor sitting by his bed and trying to explain that he was now a werewolf. Being a Muggle, none of what he was hearing made sense and he argued angrily until the Professor took out that stick of his and conjured fresh flowers for his bedside. Stunned into silence, Max vaguely recalled the Professor leaving him several books and promising to check on him later. Max read every book he could find on the subject of Lycanthropy but, at the time, nothing could help. It would be several years before Damocles Belby succeeded in creating the Wolfsbane Potion and it was decided that, in order to keep everyone safe- and Max's condition secret, it would be best if he joined the circus.

So that's what happened. A traveling circus was a magnet for every weirdo, outcast and freak, and it wouldn't be the first time a werewolf hid out with them. The members of the circus were united in their abnormalities, and Max was assured that it was the only place he could live relatively comfortably without persecution. The Professor had gone back to Baden-Baden and explained very simply that Max Kruger had been seriously injured in the attack that had claimed his parents lives, and that he had been taken to a specialist to seek treatment, but that the chances of his returning to his hometown were slight. It was a suitable enough lie, and one that allowed Max to make the change immediately. The only thing Max regretted was somehow forgetting to get the name of the Professor that had helped him.

The circus that he joined was gaining in popularity and planning to move to America. That was fine with Max, as he felt that the distance would be good for him- easier to make a fresh start. They arrived in Los Angeles in October of 1973 and, after their first show, Max was helping to clean out the stands of trash that had been left behind when he stumbled upon what he thought was a bunch of blankets. When he picked up the bundle, however, the top layer fell away revealing an infant. The baby was asleep, dressed in pink and a label had been pinned to her top reading 'Jeannie Jones'. Not knowing what to do, Max took the baby to the old woman who did the fortune telling. She said she had been hearing a baby crying all night long in her mind's eye and that this must be the child.

The circus put an ad in the paper, printed flyers that were given out during shows, and even went on Muggle radio trying to find the parents of Jeannie Jones. No one ever came forward, and when the circus packed up to leave town, Jeannie went with them. That was fine with Max, as he had developed a rather good relationship with the baby. Having just lost his own family, he found himself drawn to the orphaned girl. He helped the women feed her and bathe her and it was not uncommon for him to be found in between his training sessions with Jeannie asleep on his chest. Despite his size, Max became an accomplished acrobat and when Jeannie got old enough, he began training her as well. They were brother and sister since the day he found her and neither would have it any other way. So when she told him that she and Tonks had joined the resistance and they needed him, he didn't hesitate.

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"Charlie Weasley," said Sirius, offering his hand.

"Sirius Black," responded Charlie, taking Sirius' hand. "I haven't seen you since - I don't know, I was six or seven, I guess."

"Sounds about right. I remember Ginny had just been born."

"It's good to see you, mate," Charlie said earnestly. He had just floo'd into the kitchen at headquarters after spending the day with his mother, who had filled him in on things she couldn't put in letters while doing her shopping. "I hear you've met Jeannie Jones."

Sirius chuckled. "Yeah, quite a bird, that one. Supposed to bring her brother with her for the meeting tonight."

"Brother? Oh, you mean Max?" asked Charlie.

"Dunno. She just said she was bringing her brother and that he wasn't a wizard, but he was a werewolf."

Charlie nodded. "Sounds like Max. Did she say anything else about him?"

"No, is there something I should know?" Sirius asked, puzzled.

"Not really, I just don't want you to be caught off guard. See, she calls him her brother, but there's no blood relation. He was the one who found her when she was a baby and they've been really close ever since. The thing is, Max is massive," Charlie explained.

"What do you mean 'massive'?"

"I mean, he may not fit through the doorway. It's a bit of a shock when you first see them together because of the size difference. He's basically the polar opposite of tiny little Jeannie. Taller than Remus and about three times as bulky, and it's all muscle."

"That would be funny seeing them walk down the street together," Sirius said, grinning. "Did you just get back in the country?"

Charlie nodded. "Mum said everybody's staying here for now?"

"Yeah. Come on, I'll show you around," Sirius said, leading Charlie out of the kitchen. As they reached the front hall, Sirius put a finger to his lips to let Charlie know to stay quiet while going past his mother's curtains, then gave him a quick tour before heading down to the sitting room to meet up with the rest of the household. They sat around for a while as they waited for everyone else to arrive. There was an Order meeting that night and with Charlie and Bill back in England and Jeannie bringing her brother, it was going to be a full kitchen. Sirius as just getting ready to pour drinks for everyone when Jeannie appeared in the doorway, a huge blonde man behind her.

"Hey, guys," she said. "I want you to meet my brother, Max." Jeannie stepped aside to let the giant into the room, then led him over to Remus, knowing that the two would have a lot in common. Charlie sent Sirius a look and Sirius grinned, remembering their conversation from earlier. Charlie was right, Max almost didn't fit through the doorway. Sirius took a moment to admire Jeannie's attire. She had opted for a long purple hippie skirt and a black racer-back tank top that showed off her defined shoulders. The ballet flats she wore did nothing to help her height (or lack of) and made her look even tinier next to her hulking 'brother'.

"- and Sirius Black," Jeannie finished. After introducing Max to Remus, she had gone around the room, pointing everyone out. The girls had looked a bit frightened of him at first, but he smiled kindly at them and that had helped. He knew he was naturally intimidating, and he didn't want anyone here afraid of him.

"Would you like a drink, Max?" Sirius asked, gesturing to the bottles on top of the liquor cabinet he was leaning against.

"Sure, I'd love one," Max replied with a German accent, to Sirius' surprise.

"Firewhiskey okay?"

"That's fine. Thanks."

"Okay, everybody," said Molly, sticking her head around the door. "Dumbledore's here."

They filed down to the kitchen for the meeting and found Tonks stumbling out of the floo. Max stepped forward to steady her and, when she saw who was helping her, she gave a squeal and threw her arms around him. Chuckling, he lifted her up and hugged her back, then sat her down and pulled out a chair for her. As everyone took seats around the table, Dumbledore called the meeting to order.

"Jeannie, I assume this is the person you spoke of last meeting?" he asked.

"Yes. Max Kruger, Albus Dumbledore," she said, making the introduction.

"Mr. Kruger, Jeannie tells me that you are not a wizard. Is that correct?" Dumbledore asked.

"That is correct. I am, technically, a magical creature because of my condition, but I do not own a wand and cannot perform magic," Max said.

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "I think it would be a good idea for you and Remus to get together sometime and compare notes, if that is alright with you. Am I correct in placing your accent as German?"

"Yes, I am from the Black Forest region."

"Ah, that makes sense. Were you bitten during the troubles of 1973, perhaps?" Dumbledore pressed.

Max looked surprised. "Yes, I was. My parents were killed in the attack and I was the only survivor. Did you know the Professor that came to our town?"

"Indeed I did," answered Dumbledore. " Although he was no Professor. He took that title because the Muggles wouldn't understand the term 'Potions Master'. That, my boy, was Damocles Belby."

"The inventor of Wolfsbane?" Remus asked.

"The very same," Dumbledore confirmed. "Now, onto other matters."

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The meeting went on for nearly an hour, with Jeannie whispering information in Max's ear like Tonks had done for her during the last meeting. Finally, everyone had given their reports and their opinions (mostly in the form of grunts from Moody) and Dumbledore declared them done for the evening. Thanking them all for coming, he politely refused Molly's offer of food and headed for the floo. As before, once most of the Order members had gone, Molly called the kids for supper. She absolutely insisted that Jeannie, Max and Tonks stay - which was fine with Jeannie because she hadn't had a chance to say hello to Charlie yet. Sneaking up behind him as he was talking to Arthur, she pounced, landing on his back and forcing him to carry her piggy-back style.

"Hey, you," he said, turning his head to see her.

"Hey, yourself. When did you get in?" she asked.

"Just before you. Been good?"

"Yeah. Real good. You?"

"Alright. Few more burns, but it comes with the territory. Can't deal with dragons without dealing with fire."

"I've got a few more tattoos. I'll show you sometime."

"Sounds good."

"Should I leave you two alone?" Arthur cut in, grinning.

Jeannie smiled at him. Climbing off Charlie's back, she moved to the older man and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You know you're the only one for me, pops."

Arthur smiled fondly at her and kissed the top of her head. "Better go grab a plate before these bums eat it all," he said.

"Yes, sir," she said, giving him a salute, then headed over to Molly, who was currently filling a plate for Max.

"It's good to finally meet you, Frau Weasley," he was saying. "I've heard nothing but good things about you."

"It's good to meet you, too, dear. We've heard such good things about you as well. Now," she handed him his plate with a kind smile, "why don't you go sit next to Tonks and catch up, hmm?"

Supper was a raucous affair due to all the catching-up to be done, and they even managed to get into a minor food fight before Molly decided that she'd had enough and threatened to withold dessert. One thing struck Jeannie as odd, though. With all the mischief going on around them, the twins were being strangely quiet- keeping to themselves, and only joining in when necessary. They had chosen to sit in the corner and seemed to be debating something back and forth. When supper was over, they stole away quietly, making some excuse to head up to their room. Jeannie decided to find out what was going on.

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Author's Note: I did some research on Germany and have a few notes for you: 1) Baden-Baden is on the northern edge of the Black Forest. 2) The Black Forest does have large animals like bears and wildcats. 3) Gobel Babelin is listed as one of the victims of the Wurzburg Witch Trials of 1626-1631 and was probably burned at the stake. 4) Wurzburg is only about 150 miles northeast of Baden-Baden. 5) The Black Forest area is famous for it's clock-makers. I don't know anything about traveling circus' in the area, but since Jeannie, Max and the circus are my own inventions, I'm taking some license with it. Also, I am making Max the same age as Remus and Sirius, in case that wasn't clear. So, thoughts? Questions? Compliants? Do you think that I'm portraying people accurately? Do you like Jeannie and the dynamic she brings? One more thing- I know where this story is going and how it ends, but I'm open to suggestions about scenes you'd like to see. Drop me a line and I'll see what I can do.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	10. How To Sneak Up On A Werewolf

Author's Note: I am posting this chapter in celebration of passing 1000 views of my story! I'm so happy that people are enjoying it!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 10: How To Sneak Up On A Werewolf

Jeannie excused herself from the kitchen, claiming to need the loo but, instead, she followed the twins up to their bedroom. In their haste, the boys hadn't closed their door all the way and, since they weren't paying attention, didn't hear Jeannie approach. She leaned on the door-jam and crossed her arms, watching as they took something that looked like a muggle firecracker out of a box they had stashed under one of the beds. Deciding that she couldn't, in good conscience, spy on them, she cleared her throat and stifled a snort of laughter as both boys leapt to their feet, looking truly terrified. Once they saw that it was only Jeannie, they relaxed a bit, but still looked wary.

"How are we doing tonight, boys?" Jeannie asked.

"Fine," they answered simultaneously.

She raised an eyebrow. "You two were acting very strange at supper. Care to tell me what's going on?"

The boys hesitated and Jeannie hurried to reassure them. "You don't have to tell me anything, guys, I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

Fred and George looked at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation, before looking back at Jeannie. "Are you going to go to our mother?" one of them asked.

Jeannie shook her head. "No, not unless you're doing something that I think will harm you or cause trouble for the Order."

The other twin shook his head quickly. "No, nothing like that- it's just..." he broke off, again looking to his brother.

"Well, you see, Mum doesn't exactly approve of what Fred and I are doing," said George, eyeing Jeannie warily.

Jeannie moved into the room and took a seat on the nearest bed. Casting a quick _Muffliato_ on the doorway, she said, "I believe that. Go on."

Fred sighed heavily and sat on the other bed. "See, we have some real ideas for when we get out of school, and Mum doesn't like them because they don't involve going into the Ministry. That's what she wants for us, but we think we've got a better plan."

"We want to open a joke shop," George said.

"Joke shop?" Jeannie repeated.

"Yes, we're going to call it _Weasley's Wizard Wheezes_."

"Purveyors of Aides to Magical Mischief Makers," they said proudly.

"We got the idea in our fifth year and started designing things. When we had a few products that we were happy with, we began selling them during the school year to other students- to raise money, you know?" said George.

'When we left for the summer, we started selling through owl-order. We were doing pretty good, too, until Mum decided to clean our room for us one day and found our stuff," Fred said sadly.

"Yeah," continued George. "She had a fit - said that no sons of hers were going to open a joke shop; we were going into the Ministry like dad. Then she destroyed almost everything! All our skivving snackboxes, all our canary creams-"

"And any notebooks she could find with anything that even looked like it wasn't school work. Nearly a year's worth of work down the tubes!" cried Fred.

"Then," said George, "we went to the Quidditch World Cup, and thought that it looked like a good place to run some bets and make a little money. So, we bet all our savings to Ludo Bagman that Ireland would win, but Krum would get the snitch."

"But that's what happened," Jeannie interrupted.

"Yes, it is, but that lousy bastard paid us in leprechaun gold!" Fred nearly shouted.

"Anyway," said George, "at the end of last year, Harry gave us his TriWizard winnings. Said he didn't want the gold because of what it represented, so we've been working our arses off all summer to get back to where we were before Mum threw out our stuff."

"Harry's money is a good start, but we will need more backers, and we're trying to get a business proposal put together as well so we can show it to Sirius and see what he thinks. We know he's loaded - what with the Black family fortune, and all - and since he and Harry's dad and Lupin were pranksters as well, we thought he might be sympathetic to the cause," Fred finished.

Jeannie sat in awe for a moment. Of all the things the twins could have told her! "Wow," she said. "You two are serious about this, aren't you?"

"Dead serious," they said together.

"Would you mind showing me a few things?" she asked.

The boys broke into identical grins and, before she knew it, she was being bombarded with Extendable Ears and fake wands that turned into rubber chickens when you picked them up and things that looked like sweets, but made you ill. Not seriously sick, but just enough to get out of class. Jeannie thought it was brilliant and, if they stayed this determined, they would have a marvelous joke shop. Looking at the clock, however, she realized that she'd been talking to the boys for almost half an hour. Promising to help them talk to Sirius, she made her way back downstairs.

Hearing lots of noise coming from the sitting room, she headed there. Walking through the door, she was immediately spotted by Molly, to her dismay. She had promised the boys that she wouldn't tell on them, but she didn't like the idea of lying to Molly. All the chairs and the spots on the sofas were taken, so she poured herself a glass of Sirius' wine and sat on the floor between the coffee table and his chair.

"D'you want my seat, love?" Sirius asked like a gentleman.

"No, Sirius, I'm fine here," she replied, smiling up at him. He winked at her in response.

"Jeannie, dear, where have you been?" Molly asked, sounding concerned.

Jeannie decided to go with part of the truth. "I was just upstairs talking to Fred and George," she said innocently.

Molly's eyes narrowed. "They weren't trying to drag you into any of their nonsense about a joke-shop, were they?"

"They were telling me about getting to go to the Quidditch World Cup last summer," she said, smiling at the older woman. It was true, they _had_ mentioned that.

"Alright," said Molly, seemingly pacified.

"I think it's about time for bed, don't you Molly, dear?" said Arthur, yawning widely.

"Yes, I suppose so. Children, don't be up too late," she said, getting up. "Oh, Jeannie, we're going to have a bit of a party on the 31st to celebrate Harry's acquittal and Hermione and Ron being made prefects. You will come, won't you?"

"Of course! I love parties" Jeannie said, excited.

"Lovely. Goodnight, everyone." A chorus of 'goodnight's' followed, and that's when Jeannie noticed that the werewolves were missing from the group.

"Where are Max and Remus?" she asked Sirius, moving to sit in the middle of the sofa that Molly and Arthur had vacated.

"Upstairs. Dumbledore asked them to get together, remember?" he answered.

Jeannie nodded.

"I think it's high time I pranked Lupin," Sirius said, out of the blue. "Any ideas?" he asked the room at large.

"Pranking a werewolf is so easy," said Jeannie, chuckling.

"Oh, on the contrary," Sirius disagreed. "If they don't see it coming, they hear it coming. If they don't hear it coming, they smell it coming. That's why it's so gratifying - because there's so much effort involved."

"No, it's really quite easy if it's done right. Although I agree, it _is_ rather gratifying."

"Alright, then," Sirius said, looking thoroughly skeptical. "How would you do it?"

"You sneak up on them," Jeannie said simply.

"But you _can't_ sneak up on them! Their senses are too good - believe me, I've tried," Sirius argued.

"Well, you may have tried, but I've succeeded. On numerous occasions, I might add," said Jeannie, watching Sirius' eyes narrow.

"Look, love, I shared a dorm with a werewolf for seven years, and I absolutely don't believe that you can simply _sneak up_ on one. Hell, _I_ can smell you about the house and I'm only an animagus. It can't be done," he stated firmly.

"Yes, it can," Jeannie maintained.

"Can't."

"Can."

"Can't."

Jeannie sighed, but then she had an idea. "Care to make it interesting?" she asked, slyly.

Sirius grinned slowly. "That depends," he said, his voice deepening. "Just how _interesting_ are you willing to get?"

"Very," she said, matching his tone.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun," said Charlie, laughter in his voice.

Sirius glanced sideways at him, then looked back at Jeannie. "You're that confident, are you?" he asked and she nodded. "Alright, then, state your terms," he challenged, pulling out his wand and conjuring a piece of parchment on which the terms of the bet would be recorded. He sent the magical contract over to Jeannie, making it hover in front of her, awaiting her instructions.

"I, Jeannie Jones, hereby bet Sirius Black that I can and will successfully sneak up on the werewolf Remus Lupin within one week of this contract's drafting," the words appearing on the parchment as she spoke them. "If I win (which I will), Sirius agrees to fund a business venture for some friends of mine who wish to remain anonymous at this time." Jeannie looked over at Sirius to see if that was agreeable to him. He looked a little confused, but nodded. "If I lose (which I won't), the punishment will be... " she thought about it for a moment, then grinned. "The punishment will be Sirius' choice, to administer as he sees fit."

Sirius' eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline as he heard that. Running a hand along his jaw, he knew she had him. There was no way in hell that he was going to pass that up, so, ignoring the giggles from everyone in the room, he brought the parchment back to hover in front of him. "I, Sirius Black, agree to the terms set out by Jeannie Jones, and I make a few provisions. 1) That the prank be carried out in front of me for verification. 2) That Remus Lupin not be made aware, under any circumstances, of this contract until it is completed. 3) That Remus Lupin admits, in my presence, to having no idea about this for further verification. 4) That everyone in this room keeps their mouths shut about it. If any of these provisions are broken, the punishment will be Sirius' choice, to administer as I see fit."

Sirius had a bit of experience with magical contracts, and was determined to erase any and all loopholes that would interfere with 'Sirius' choice'- the possibilities of which were already dancing around in his head. Signing the contract, he sent it back over to Jeannie to sign, then sent it to each of the room's occupants in turn to get their signatures. Hermione looked slightly disapproving of the whole thing, but she signed anyway. Not a moment too soon, either, as Remus and Max walked into the room just as Sirius was stuffing the parchment into his robes for safe-keeping. The room watched as the two werewolves stopped, sensing the small amount of tension in the room. Jeannie watched Remus' nostrils flare slightly, testing the air. Max was much less subtle, blatantly sniffing around before looking at his sister.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, Max. Sirius and I just had a minor disagreement, that's all." She knew she had to be careful, as lying was a very pungent odor and one that would be immediately spotted. "You know how I hate to be told what I can't do," she added.

Max nodded, knowing that to be the truth. "I'd be careful about that if I were you," he said to Sirius, taking a seat next to Jeannie.

"I'll keep that in mind," Sirius said, grinning.

Remus sat on the other side of Jeannie, eyeing his friend carefully. He knew Sirius was up to something, he just didn't know what. They sat around talking for a bit longer, before the kids' eyes began to droop. Sirius declared then that it was time for bed, and Jeannie and Max stood up to leave as well.

Jeannie looked up at Max. "Well, what do you want- floo or apparition?" she asked him, grinning as he made a face. Max hated all kinds of magical travel.

"Apparition," he said. "My flat isn't connected to the floo network and I don't want to take a taxi."

"Whatever you say. Kids, sleep well. Remus, Max is familiar with owl post if you need him. Sirius," she said, turning to face the handsome wizard, "always a pleasure."

"Pleasure's all mine, love," he said, grinning.

Jeannie sent him a wink and grabbed Max's hand, turning on the spot and disapparating with a _crack._

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Jeannie wouldn't have a chance to win her bet for three days, but when the opportunity did come, it was perfect. The day before the party, Tonks had the day off, so she and Jeannie had done some shopping and had lunch out, then decided to go and waste some time at Grimmauld. She'd told Tonks about the bet, as Tonks and Kingsley had left right after the meeting for guard duty and hadn't been there to hear the details.

"I can't believe you're letting him pick the punishment!" Tonks said, laughing.

"Well, I knew he wouldn't be able to resist that and now the twins will have their financial backer. It's a win-win" Jeannie explained.

"Only _if_ you win," Tonks reminded her.

"There's no way I can lose! I used to do this to Max all the time. I've got nothing to worry about," Jeannie insisted.

She really didn't have anything to worry about. It was almost too easy. When she and Tonks had floo'd into Grimmauld's sitting room, they had found the house in a state of mild chaos. Ron had, of course, left his homework until the last possible moment, and Hermione was fussing at him about it, with Harry looking on, clearly amused. The twins were teasing Bill about his French girlfriend, and Molly was running around hap-hazardly, trying to make sure that everyone had their clothing and their books and their trunks packed. Sirius was in his favorite chair and Remus on the sofa nearest to him and, to Jeannie's luck, facing away from the door.

"Hello, ladies," said Sirius in greeting.

"Hey, everybody. Got everything together yet?" Tonks asked the kids, taking a seat next to Hermione.

Jeannie met Sirius' eye and decided that now was the time. "I'm going to the loo, I'll be right back," she announced.

Once she was in the hallway, however, she pulled out her wand and waved it around herself, cloaking herself in a modified containment spell that she'd invented years ago. It wasn't a disillusionment charm, as she could still be seen, but it did block anyone outside her little bubble from hearing her footsteps or smelling her - particularly handy when sneaking up on unsuspecting werewolves. Since Remus had his back to the door, his ears and his nose were the only things she had to worry about. Peeking her head around the door, she met Sirius' eye again and he raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything. Remus had gotten caught up in yet another conversation with Hermione about creature's rights and wasn't paying any attention to what might be behind him. The boys, too, were oblivious. Only Tonks and Ginny, who was seated directly in front of Remus, noticed Jeannie creeping up behind him.

Jeannie put her finger to her lips and Ginny's mouth twitched in response. Slowly, she made her way into the room until she stood, completely undetected, directly behind Remus. Leaning down towards him, she watched carefully as he debated Hermione on some point of legislature. Giving Ginny a sly wink and seeing Sirius' eyes widen, she leaned in even closer. Licking her lips for show, she opened her mouth and bit him directly on the neck.

Remus nearly howled in fright and leapt up, spinning around to face his attacker and losing his balance in the process. Tumbling backwards over the coffee table, and knocking over several textbooks, he landed on his arse with his head on Ginny's knee and one leg draped over the table. Panting and wide-eyed, he put a hand to his neck as the room burst out laughing, Sirius almost falling out of his chair.

"What the... How did you... No biting!" Remus stammered, much to the amusement of the room's occupants. Slowly, his breathing calmed down and he pulled himself into a more dignified position, though still sitting on the floor. "What the hell?!"

Jeannie waved her wand again, removing the spell. "Sorry, Remus, see I made a bet with Sirius- "

"I knew it!" Remus cut her off, pointing at his friend, who was wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "I knew you were up to something the other night! You bastard!"

Sirius' only reply was to disolve into another fit of not very manly giggles.

"You didn't know about the bet until just now, though, right? Nobody said anything?"" Jeannie asked, making sure all of Sirius' stipulations in the contract were fulfilled.

"No, nobody said anything. Wait," said Remus, thinking about it. "How did you do that? You can't sneak up on a werewolf."

"That's what I said," said Sirius, in between gasping for breath. "But, apparently, you can!"

Jeannie gave a short explanation of the spell she used, then looked to Sirius. "I believe I win," she said.

Sirius smiled at her. "You know, I don't even mind being bested this time - that was absolutely phenomenal" he said, taking the contract and handing it to her as per the rules of magical bet contracts. With these contracts, the person being challenged held the contract until the bet was won or lost, then surrendered the contract to the winner (if need be), who held onto it until the full terms were concluded. So, because Jeannie challenged Sirius, he held the contract until she fulfilled her end of the bet, and because Jeannie won the bet, she would hold the contract until Sirius funded whatever friend's business needs she was talking about on the night of the bet.

"Thank you," she said, tucking the contract into her back pocket.

"Are you going to tell me who these friends in need are?" Sirius asked.

"I'll tell you all about it..." she thought for a minute, "at the party."

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Author's Note: Did you like Jeannie pranking Remus? I had a lot of fun writing it. Please review!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	11. Headed Back To Hogwarts

Author's Note: I had a lot of fun writing the last chapter, and it seems that you guys had just as much fun reading it! I got more reviews on the last chapter than on any other, and they made me so very happy. It's so gratifying to know that this isn't one of those stories you read just to get to the good parts (those will come, be patient), and that you're truly enjoying it.

**rlassie**: Glad you liked Max. I know I said to picture the Cirque du Soliel guys, but it's possible that he's related to a Hemsworth. Lol

**Danneyland**: I would _never _insult you, my dear :) Thanks for reading, and don't worry, Max will play 'big brother' at some point.

**Tamaa**: Thanks for the lovely review! You're right, it's pretty obvious that Jeannie and Sirius will get together, but like they say, 'it's not about the destination, it's about the journey'. I like Jeannie, too, and I have a lot of fun writing her.

**James**: A pleasure, as always.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 11: Headed Back To Hogwarts

Sirius had been all for letting Molly throw a party, as he was sad about Harry going back to school. While he knew, better than anyone, how good it felt to go back to Hogwarts, there was a part of him that was almost disappointed that Harry _hadn't_ been expelled, because then the teenager could have stayed at Grimmauld with him. It was selfish, he knew, but he'd had precious little to be selfish about over the last 15 years or so, and he was tempted to allow himself this one weakness. _Well, perhaps two weaknesses,_ he thought, as he watched Jeannie walk in.

The young woman was quickly getting under his skin, and this evening she arrived looking like something straight out of one of his fantasies. Wearing the tight black jeans she'd worn the first time he'd seen her, this time with high heeled black boots, a white button-down shirt and a black leather jacket, she could easily have just climbed off the back of his old motorbike. She hadn't put her hair up either, letting it fall down her back like a waterfall instead. Her dark eyes peeked out from under her fringe and looked around the room.

"You know," Sirius said, getting her attention. "I had this dream." He gestured to her attire and smirked suggestively.

"Good dream, I hope," she said, playing along.

"Very, very good." He watched as she came to sit by him. "Where's Max?"

"Coming later. Is Molly okay?" she asked. "She seemed a little flustered."

Sirius' face darkened. "Ran into a boggart earlier. Remus had to take care of it for her because she couldn't stay in the room."

Jeannie nodded grimly. "I imagine it turned into the kids?"

"And Arthur and you and me and basically everyone in this house - with the possible exception of Mundungus."

Jeannie made a face. She didn't much like 'Dung and made a point of ignoring him as much as possible. Why the Order insisted on using him, she would never know- if they had needed an ear to the ground, who better to go to than circus folk? She could've given them half a dozen spies who, unlike 'Dung, could be trusted to not run off with the silverware. Deciding to change the subject, Jeannie looked around the room to make sure that everyone was occupied and paying no attention to her and Sirius.

"Shall I tell you what business you'll be funding?" she asked quietly.

Sirius leaned forward so they wouldn't be overheard. "I'm all ears," he said.

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Ever heard of it?"

"No," Sirius shook his head.

"The twins are inventors. It's not just about pranking anymore, they've actually _invented_ stuff. Molly wants them to follow in Arthur's footsteps when they leave school, but they've decided they want to open a joke shop. The reason you've never heard of it is because Molly found out about their plan last summer, threw out all their stuff and banned them from even talking about it," she explained.

"So that's what you were really doing upstairs with them last week?" Sirius asked. "And the reason for the occaisional explosions from their room?"

Jeannie nodded. "I didn't know about it, I just noticed that they were acting funny during supper, so I went upstairs to ask if they were all right and they let me in on it. With the promise that I wouldn't go to their mother, of course. Showed me some things, too. Said they'd been trying to put together a business proposal for you but hadn't been able to get around Molly yet."

"A business proposal for me?"

"Yeah, they said you and Remus and James Potter were big-time pranksters in school and since you've got lots of money, they thought they could find a way to partner with you. Harry gave them his winnings from last year, but that will only take them so far. They need a real backer. What do you say?"

Sirius sat back in his chair, clearly mulling this over. He knew the twins were 'honorary Marauders' from what Remus had told him, and he'd even caught them with those Extendable Ears trying to overhear Order stuff, but he didn't realize it went any further than that.

"I want to see their stuff," he said, finally.

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Jeannie said, smiling.

And so it was. After Molly sent the kids to bed, Jeannie took Max home because magical transportation was so much quicker. Instead of going home, however, she'd apparated right back to Grimmauld. Directly into the twins bedroom, to be exact, as they had agreed to earlier in order to circumvent Molly. Within minutes of getting things set up for Sirius, a quiet scratching was heard at the door. Fred opened the door, and an enormous shaggy black mutt trotted in. Jeannie was momentarily puzzled; she'd forgotten that Sirius was an animagus, having never seen him in animal form, and something about this dog looked familiar.

Transforming, Sirius looked at Jeannie who'd forgotten completely about whatever Weasley product was in her hand at the moment and was staring at him strangely. "I didn't mean to startle you, Jeannie. It's just that sometimes I'm quieter as a dog."

Jeannie cocked her head to the side. "Transform again. Please," she added.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, but did as she asked and in seconds the dog returned.

"You look so familiar," she said, her frown deepening. "I just can't think of where I've seen you."

"Been sneaking out against Moody's orders, Sirius?" one of the twins joked as Jeannie shook her head and the dog became a man once more.

"I wish," Sirius said somewhat bitterly. "I didn't frighten you, did I?" he asked Jeannie.

"Nah, I just know I've seen you before somewhere, but I can't place it," she explained. "It's going to irritate me until I figure it out."

Then the boys got down to business, showing Sirius the products they'd shown Jeannie plus others she hadn't had time to see. Sirius was very impressed and told the boys to put some numbers together when they had a chance and they could talk more about it over Christmas. They all knew that the Ministry was beginning to intercept owls and some floo networks were being monitored, so the possibility of a face-to-face meeting before the holidays was very slim.

"Ideally, we'd like to open a Hogsmeade branch as well. For the students, you know," said George, putting things away while Fred made notes.

"Hogsmeade!" Jeannie exclaimed, the lights going off in her head. She pointed to Sirius. "_That's_ where I saw you! Two years ago I was headed to Hogwarts to play a concert there. I'd had lunch with Tonks and on my way to the Front Gates some mangy black mutt starting following me. You looked so skinny and pitiful that I gave you my leftovers."

"Hmm, I don't remember that," Sirius said, thinking. "But I _was_ in Hogsmeade two years ago and I _was_ relying on scraps from sympathetic people, so it's entirely possible." He shook his head to clear it. "Alright, fellows, I think that's enough for tonight. We all have to be up early in the morning. Care for a night-cap?" he asked Jeannie.

"No, I'm tired. Rain-check?"

Sirius winked and nodded. "I'll be here."

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The next morning Jeannie floo'd into Grimmauld's kitchen at the peak of the 'we're-going-to-be-late-for-the-train' insanity. Clothes were flying, cauldrons were knocked over and trunks crashed into each other as they were filled with everything that had been forgotten, despite everyone having sworn up and down the night before that they'd done their packing already. Molly was looking more frazzled than ever as she promised Sirius that she'd finish cleaning up from breakfast as soon as she got back.

"It's _fine_, Molly," Sirius said, looking over at Jeannie and rolling his eyes. "Don't worry about it."

"Oh, I know," she said distractedly. "I just hate leaving a mess."

"Tell you what, Mom," Jeannie interjected as she picked her way through the rubble to sit at the table next to Sirius. "You focus on getting the kids to the train and I'll take care of the dishes. Deal?"

"Oh, you are a dear. Thank you. We shouldn't be long and I'll help as soon as I get back. Fred! George!" Molly shouted as the boys' trunks came flying down the stairs.

"Are they letting you see Harry off?" Jeannie asked Sirius.

"No, but I'm going anyway," he said, looking at her defiantly as if daring her to tell him not to.

"Okay, just be extra careful, yeah?" she answered. Jeannie was pretty good at picking her fights and, even though she didn't know Sirius very well, she could tell today was weighing on him. She suspected that the distraction the kids provided was the only thing keeping him from going completely stir-crazy in his mother's house.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going?" he asked.

"Nope. I've been deemed 'too recognizable' and Dumbledore doesn't want me seen in the company of the Order. He seems to think if Harry Potter and I show up in the same place at the same time, it may cause trouble for us."

"Alright, everyone," Molly called. "Say your good-byes. We're off."

Jeannie stood up and hugged all the kids, ignoring how Ron and Harry blushed. "Have a good term. See you soon," she said, sharing a meaningful look with the twins.

"Sirius, Dumbledore said no!" shouted Molly as Sirius, in dog form, clawed at the door and whined, clearly desperate for some fresh air.

"Be careful," Jeannie said quietly as Tonks passed her. The pink-haired witch smiled and they gave each other a kiss on the cheek before Tonks headed out the door, tripping over her own feet as she did so. "Dumb-ass!" Jeannie called, to which Tonks responded with her middle finger, not even bothering to turn around. Chuckling, Jeannie eyed the dishes from breakfast. Flicking her wand several times, she set the dishes to work cleaning themselves, then helped herself to some of the leftover bacon and a glass of orange juice.

As expected, Molly was furious when she, Remus and Sirius made it back to the house. The rest of the Order had dispersed after the train left, heading in different directions for work and errands leaving only the three of them going back to headquarters. From what Jeannie could gather from their yelling match, Sirius had stayed in dog form the whole time, but one of the boys in Harry's year seemed to recognize him. Possibly the son of a Death Eater, she thought, watching Remus sink tiredly into the chair next to hers and run a hand over his face. It was clear that the last place he wanted to be at the moment was in between Sirius and Molly.

"It didn't go well, then?" she asked him.

Remus shrugged wearily. "I wish I knew of somewhere safe to take Sirius," he said. "Every once in a while - when it gets too much. Just a place that's not here."

"Well," Jeannie said. "I've been thinking about that. See, when I finished this last tour, I came straight back to England. I had been renting a flat, but I decided that I really needed somewhere that was mine, to do with as I pleased. I found this building that had been a small auto-repair shop in Muggle London with living quarters above the shop. I bought it and put up a bunch of Muggle-repelling wards around it, like St. Mungo's has. To anyone walking down the street, it just looks like a shop that's closed down. The thing is, I haven't really had time to make the changes I want to make and unpack all my stuff because I only moved in a couple of months ago. So I was thinking, if we put up enough protections on the place, maybe Sirius could come over and help me with it. Do you think he'd go for that?"

Remus sat back and pursed his lips, thinking it over. "I think Sirius would go for anything right about now," he said, as they heard the yelling stop and a door slam from somewhere upstairs.

"Why don't you come over and check the place out? Help me with the wards? I doubt you'll be missed for a while," Jeannie said. Remus nodded and they left a note for Molly, then floo'd over to Jeannie's place.

Stepping out of the fireplace, Remus took a look around. Boxes and furniture and strange-looking equipment filled the area that had been the repair shop. Some of the furniture was still wrapped in plastic, telling him that Jeannie had bought it recently, but hadn't had a chance to set it all up yet.

"What is all this?" he asked, gesturing to a piece of equipment.

"That's all my gym stuff," she said. "For training, you know?"

Judging by the look on Remus' face, he didn't know.

"It's work-out equipment to help a person stay in shape. I was an acrobat, remember? When you're an athlete of any kind, you have to work out to maintain a certain physicality. All that equipment over there is designed for that."

"Oh," said Remus blankly. Having never been to a 'gym' or had any desire to 'work-out', he was going to have to take her word on that.

"Come on, I'll show you the upstairs," she said, walking over to a spiral staircase.

She and Remus spent the next hour going over what wards needed to be on the building and setting them up. Remus figured that this was about as good as it was going to get in terms of a secondary safe house for Sirius seeing as nobody knew that Jeannie was in the Order and only Max and Tonks knew where this building was. As long as Sirius wasn't seen coming in or out, it should be fine. Once he was satisfied with the protections, Remus suggested that now would be a good time to bring Sirius over. The man had not had a good morning, and Remus didn't want him spending too much time brooding like he'd done before the kids had arrived for the summer.

Molly was in the kitchen having a cup of tea when Jeannie and Remus stepped out of the floo. "Thank you so much, dear, for doing the washing up this morning," she said, upon seeing Jeannie.

"Oh, no problem Molly," Jeannie answered. "Where's Sirius?"

The older woman rolled her eyes. "Still upstairs, I think. I haven't seen him since our argument. I suppose I was a bit harsh with him, but I just want him to be safe."

"I know, Molly," Remus said, "but since when have you known Sirius to do what's best for himself?"

"Reckless man," she said exasperatedly.

"Which room is his?" Jeannie asked Remus.

"The one directly across from the twins'. Do you want me to get him? He may be in a mood," Remus warned.

"Nah, I got this," she said, giving him a grin and heading upstairs. Finding the twins' room, she turned and knocked on the door on the other side of the hall.

"What?" came a clearly still pissed-off voice.

"Can I come in?" she called through the door. After a moment, she heard the latch click and saw the doorknob turn. Pushing the door open, she stepped inside. The room looked like the other bedrooms in the house with the notable exception of red and gold hangings around the bed instead of green and silver. A large four-poster bed sat opposite a fireplace and the walls were covered in pictures of Muggle girls on motorbikes in various states of undress. The sole occupant of the room lay sprawled on the bed with his hands tucked behind his head and a sour look on his face.

"Nice," she commented with a grin, looking at the half-naked girls.

"Not that I don't enjoy having you around," he said, ignoring her observation, "but I'm in a bit of a mood right now and I really don't want to take it out on you."

"Ah,yes - well, on that point - how would you like to get out for a bit?" she asked, watching his face darken.

"I'm not allowed to 'get out for a bit', in case you weren't listening earlier. It's not safe," he said through gritted teeth.

"Right," Jeannie said absently. "Are those rat bones?" she asked, spotting small carcases on the floor near the window.

"Probably. I used to have a hippogriff here."

"You had a what? In here?" she asked incredulously.

"A hippogriff. Long story, but he went to live with Hagrid when the kids came."

"Um - okay." Jeannie shook herself and turned her attention back to Sirius. "Now - about getting out," she said, and his eyes narrowed. "Technically, it wouldn't be 'out' because you'd still be 'in', but you wouldn't be in _here_. Does that make sense?"

"No," he said shortly.

Jeannie moved towards him, leaned against the post at the end of the bed and smiled gently at him. "Remus and I went over to my place today and put up a bunch of protective wards so you could come over. I just moved in and have a lot of stuff I need to get done and I was thinking that, if you wanted to, you could come to my place for a while and help me out. Or just come over and talk to me while I work. Max and Tonks are the only other people who know where I live and nobody knows that I have connections to you, so there would be no reason anyone would be looking for you. Would you like to come over?"

Sirius blinked a few times, then rolled himself into a sitting position. "Let me see if I've got this right. You're offering to let me come over to your place so I can get out of here for a while?"

"Yes."

"And Remus knows about this?"

"Yes."

"And Remus is okay with this?"

"Yes."

"Does Dumbledore know?"

"No," she said. "Well, he knows where I live, but he doesn't know about you going over there. I'll tell him, of course, but since Remus couldn't find a problem with it, I don't see the need to wait around for Dumbledore. Do you?"

"No. Lead the way," he said, already on his feet and headed for the door. Jeannie grinned. This was going to be good for him.

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Author's Note: Just a word about spacing issues in the first several chapters - it turns out that my computer was doing this automatically and it took a while for me to fix it. I have gone back and updated those chapters affected and have fixed the problem for future posts (as far as I can tell). I tried very hard to catch all the mistakes, but if I missed some, too bad because it was a massive pain in the ass to do and I'm not going over them again :) Thanks to the people who let me know about it and I apologize for the annoyance. Hopefully, it didn't turn too many of you off. Also, I have another chapter in the works, but with it being the holidays and all, I may not be able to post for a few days. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	12. An Afternoon Well Spent

Author's Note: I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! To my non-American readers, I hope you had a good weekend! I've said before that I will try to update at least once a week and that's what I'm still shooting for. As much as I'd like to spend all day every day daydreaming about Jeannie and Sirius and what they might get up to, I also want to make sure that I'm proud of each chapter before it goes out, so I beg your patience and I promise not to make you wait without a reason. Thanks to my favs/followers and to those kind enough to leave reviews!

**Danneyland**: I know you're ready for a bit of smut, so maybe this will tide you over for a few chapters ;)

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling. Also, there are references to rock bands in this chapter and I don't own them, either. Nor do I own anything related to _Rocky Horror Picture Show._

Also, thanks to **Danneyland** for the idea to have Sirius play with Jeannie's lingerie. Originally, I just had him hold it up to get a grin from her, but **Danneyland **thought it would be funny to have him hold it up to himself as if he were thinking about putting it on. I think it works beautifully, and it proves how helpful reviews can be!

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Chapter 12: An Afternoon Well Spent

Jeannie followed Sirius out of the bedroom shaking her head amusedly. It amazed her how quickly his moods could shift. She wondered if he'd always been like that or if it was a side-effect of Azkaban. _Probably a bit of both_, she thought. Not that it mattered, really, because she was starting to become very fond of Sirius and Jeannie knew better than anyone how complex people could be. That was another thing about growing up in the circus- you learned to accept people exactly as they were, no more, no less.

Leaving it to Remus to explain the situation to Molly, Jeannie took Sirius through the sitting room floo instead of the kitchen. Brushing soot off her clothes, she watched him look around in wonder as they came out of her fireplace. She imagined it must have been pretty close to heaven for him to be out of Grimmauld for a while, if only briefly. Sirius slowly made his way into the shop, checking things out along the way. He obviously didn't know any more about gym equipment than Remus did, and Jeannie had to stifle a laugh at the look on his face as he eyed one piece in particular.

"That's called a bench press," she said, breaking the silence. " It's actually Max's. Once we get this stuff set up, I'll show you how to use it if you want."

"How to use it?" Sirius repeated, staring at it as if it was some sort of Muggle torture device.

"Yes, it's for working out. Exercise is a great way to clear the mind and cleanse the body."

"I can think of other ways to clear the mind," he answered, still looking dubiously at the contraption.

"It's not going to bite you, Sirius," she said, moving past him and heading for a few of the larger boxes. "You want to help me sort some of this stuff out?"

"Sure. Where's it going?" he asked, pulling out his wand.

"Well, let's just start opening boxes. If it's clothing or household stuff, send it upstairs. If not, leave it and I'll decide what to do with it later, yeah?"

Sirius nodded and they got to work. Soon, boxes were floating up the spiral staircase and the there were empty spaces instead of just foot-paths for the first time since Jeannie moved in. She hadn't realized that she had this much clothing, but it did tend to accumulate when you travel the world and see things that you absolutely can't live without. It also didn't help that she'd decided to get all new furniture and the only piece of it that she'd set up so far was the bed.

"Oohhh, here we go!" Jeannie said suddenly.

Sirius looked up from the box he was opening to see her standing in front of a record player.

"Have you found any boxes with records, yet?" she asked him.

"No. _Accio Jeannie's records!_" he said, ducking as three boxes came whizzing past his head, landing neatly next to Jeannie. Making his way over to her, he looked over her shoulder as she picked some music for them.

"What would you like to hear, Sirius?" she asked, thumbing through her records.

"Oh, I don't much care. I'm sure I'm horribly out of touch with the music scene, anyway. You don't pay much attention to pop culture in prison" he said, watching as she flipped through bands he'd never heard of and singers he'd never seen. Unhappy with that box, Jeannie brought the next one over. This time, Sirius did recognize the music. Stunned, he saw _The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Boston, Styx_- almost every Muggle band he'd liked growing up was in that box. Jeannie stopped and pulled one out, holding it out to him for inspection. It was _Bad Company's _self-titled album from 1973; he'd bought it in the summer of 1974 after the school year ended when he'd escaped into Muggle London to get away from his parents for a while.

He couldn't help but grin as the memories came back. That had been a great summer - his first Muggle record store, his first rock album and, incidentally, his first kiss. The girl working behind the counter at the record shop, despite being several years older than him, had decided that she'd liked the way he looked and Sirius, despite being only fourteen, hadn't minded. He'd always been a handsome boy, but in the summer of 1974, he was starting to become a handsome young man thanks to a recent growth spurt, and was very happy to learn how to make the most of it. It had been a bit sloppy and awkward due to his inexperience and the rather uncomfortable brick wall she'd pushed him up against in the alley behind the store, but it was also perfect.

"Right, that's the one," Jeannie said decisively, sending the record player over to the corner where her speakers sat and taking the record from Sirius, sending it over to set itself up. "Back to work!" she ordered playfully, turning him around and giving him a shove as _'Can't Get Enough'_ started coming through the speakers.

Spending the afternoon at Jeannie's place was quickly turning into exactly what Sirius needed. They talked and laughed and played music with no fear whatsoever of Muggles or mothers or Mollys. Sirius even got to tease her a bit as he came across a box of lingerie. Holding up a piece of particularly sheer black lace, he sent her a dirty grin which, to his delight, she returned.

"I think you're a bit butch for that one, don't you?" she said, chuckling.

Sirius, never one to back down from a challenge, held the lace up to his chest and twisted this way and that as if trying to find the right angle.

"Oh, I don't know," he said. "It's the right color!"

Jeannie's chuckles turned into full laughter at the sight of the tattooed, goateed prison escapee appearing to seriously consider pulling a _Rocky Horror Picture Show_ with her underwear. Quickly sifting through a box near her, she found a black lace thong to go with the teddy he was holding and tossed it over to him. He laughed loudly as he caught it, then dropped them both back in the box and sent it upstairs with the rest of the clothing.

By now, Sirius had lost count of the number of times Jeannie had astounded him, and he wasn't really sure how he felt about that. It had been a very long time since someone had piqued his interest so easily and so quickly and it was a bit unsettling. He'd known her for less than a month and she was already worming her way into every part of his life. He decided that he really needed to know more about her. What he wanted was the chance to actually sit down with her and talk. One-on-one, without the distractions of the kids running in and out or Molly adding to his list of things to clean or decontaminate.

Sirius knew, of course, that he was woefully out of practice when it came to things like having 'getting to know you' conversations, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. It wasn't just idle curiosity, he was genuinely interested in Jeannie. He'd thought that he knew a thing or two about girls, but this one was tripping him up at every available opportunity. Also, he wanted to make sure that he wasn't just doing his thinking with his dick, which was a real possibility. In his younger days, Sirius had been handsome and charming and hadn't had to worry about a girl's motives when she pursued him because of that. Now, however, the years had taken their toll on him and he didn't know Jeannie well enough to know if she was being nice because that's who she was or if she had other motives. He didn't like thinking that way, but he couldn't help it - not after all he'd been through. He thought back to a conversation he'd had with Remus not long ago:

_"You okay, Padfoot?" he heard Remus ask._

_ Sirius looked up to find Remus eyeing him. He nodded. They were in the sitting room, enjoying a drink after successfully completing another bedroom clean-out. Molly had insisted that Jeannie and Tonks stay for supper again, so they had gone upstairs with Ginny and Hermione for some 'girl time' while Molly cooked. Sirius grinned as he heard another peal of laughter coming from the general direction of the girl's room._

_ "Do you think they're talking about us?" he asked Remus._

_ Remus shrugged. "I'm only catching bits and pieces. It's nice to hear laughter in this house, though, don't you think?"_

_ "Yeah," Sirius' grin widened. "Do you think Jeannie's a good fit here?"_

_ Remus chuckled. "Yeah, I do. She's one of a kind, that's for sure. It doesn't surprise me that you two are getting along."_

_ Sirius raised his eyebrows._

_ "Well, she's like a female version of you, isn't she?" Remus explained. "The swearing, the tattoos, the devil-may-care attitude. It's all you, just infinitely prettier," he said, grinning at Sirius' snort._

_ "I do hope you weren't thinking that when you were in bed with her," Sirius teased._

_ "I can honestly say you were the last thing on my mind then," Remus assured him._

Sirius chuckled to himself. It was true, he supposed, they did seem to have a lot in common- with the obvious exceptions of gender and upbringing. He wondered if she'd ever found her birth parents, or if she'd ever wanted to. He wondered if music was something she'd always loved, or if it was something she'd discovered recently. He wondered if she knew what she did to him when she wore tight jeans. He wondered if she would have dinner with him if things were different. Perhaps now, with the kids currently on the train back to school, he'd be able to get answers to his wonderings. That is, of course, if Jeannie kept coming around. He certainly hoped she would.

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Sirius went to bed that night pleasantly exhausted for the first time in recent memory. His limbs were sore, but in a good way and his mind was clearer than it had been in ages. He felt as if they had actually accomplished something, and he was proud of that. When they were done with the boxes, Jeannie had gone through the building with him and explained what she wanted to change and how she wanted things set up. He'd put his two cents in and they'd made plans for the next time Sirius came over. He knew it was somewhat childish, but working all day at Jeannie's felt different and much more fulfilling than trying to make the lost cause of Grimmauld Place habitable.

Contrary to popular belief, Sirius had never had a problem with physical labor, and he'd spent several hours at her place until Remus decided that he'd been gone from headquarters long enough and it was time for him to return. Molly had left them supper before returning to the Burrow, and the two men had a nice, albeit quiet, meal while Sirius begged Remus for any information he may have on the former acrobat. Jeannie had stayed at her place, but there was an order meeting scheduled for the next night, so he knew he'd see her then. It was something to look forward to, too, because he and Jeannie had agreed to talk to Dumbledore about Sirius spending time occaisionally outside of the safety of headquarters. Namely, at Jeannie's place.

Laying in bed, staring at the bikini-clad models posing beside motorbikes that littered his walls, Sirius began thinking that he was getting close to a turning point in his life. Hopefully, this time, for the better. There were several major points that he _could_ bitch about if he so desired, like most of the wizarding world still believing the worst of him, or living in his mother's house with his mother's house-elf, but the last few months had given him just a glimmer of hope. There was going to be another war but, by now, they knew pretty much what they were dealing with. He'd had almost an entire month to spend with Harry, who meant more to him than anything else, and the people in his life who meant anything to him at all knew the truth and were behind him.

And now, he had another reason to hope. _Jeannie Jones._ That beautiful, sexy, unpredictable young woman that he was beginning to look forward to seeing for any reason at all, and not just because she was another ally. He still wasn't positive what her motives were in regard to the way she teased and possibly even flirted with him, but Remus and Charlie had both warned him that she wasn't your average girl. He could see that for himself and he was happy, for the moment at least, to pretend that it might mean something.

Sirius felt his body grow warm as his mind replayed the way she had moved to the music while they worked. To his delight, she'd stuck to what was now called 'classic rock' (Sirius wasn't sure how he felt about that as it made him sound old), and they'd gone through record after record of music that, at one time, he'd known every word of. It had reminded him of a time when he'd been young and strong and invincible, but instead of making him bitter- as it might have done if he'd listened to it with Remus- with Jeannie it made him feel like that was something he may, with a little effort, be able to recapture.

That thought got his blood going and soon it was traveling south. He felt himself begin to harden as he remembered Jeannie bent over a box, sifting through the contents as he stared at her arse. Sirius knew it was impolite to stare, but he really couldn't help it. He had been locked up for a _really long_ time, and the only women he had encountered since his escape who weren't spoken for were either former Professors or relatives. Neither of which were appealing to him. Plus, there had been children in the house and he didn't even want to think of what Molly may have done to him if she'd caught him doing anything more than flirt harmlessly. His language got him in enough trouble.

After grabbing his wand and performing a quick silencing charm on the room so Remus wouldn't hear him, he closed his eyes and let his hand run down his thin chest toward his waistband, while trying to think of the last time he'd had a good wank. Too bloody long, he decided, as his hand drifted over his cock. Keeping his movements slow and gentle at first, he merely brushed against himself, hissing at the contact. His own fingers were rough, but he'd always had a vivid imagination and it wasn't difficult to picture Jeannie's hands in place of his own. His lips curled into a smile as his thumb ran over the sensitive head, gathering the moisture that was beginning to bead.

Releasing himself, he pushed his sleep pants down past his hips and resumed. In his mind's eye he imagined Jeannie walking in to his bedroom and catching him. He watched her dark eyes widen in surprise, then she'd close the door behind her and slowly approach him on the bed, a hungry look on her face. She would watch him for a few moments, then move to join him. _Who needs wank mags,_ he thought, speeding up his movements. His breathing quickened and his cock leaked precum as his fantasy continued.

Imaginary Jeannie climbed onto the bed with him, crawling in between his legs. Batting his hands away, she replaced them with her own and began pumping him. She'd left her hair down the way he liked and it cascaded around his thighs as she bent over his body. Bringing one of her hands down, she started playing with his balls. Rolling them around in her hands and pulling gently on them, she brought him closer and closer to his climax. Just as he was reaching his peak, she leaned further over him and, looking up at him through her fringe, said in a husky voice, "Come for me, Sirius," and he was done.

Sirius' eyes shot open as he threw his head back and cried out raggedly as his orgasm hit. His body thrashed on the bed and his hips thrust wildly into his hand, cum shooting out in thick ropes, landing on his chest and stomach. He hadn't cum this hard in a long, long time. Moaning, he squeezed his cock once more, drawing every last ounce of pleasure out of himself before relaxing into his sheets. Panting, he reached for his wand again, waving it over himself to vanish the evidence. Then he removed the silencing charm from the room, just in case he was needed, and put his wand back on the nightstand.

Sinking deeper into the comfort of his bed, he pulled his pants back up as his cock deflated and his breathing returned to normal. A tired grin stretched across his face as he began to feel the relaxation that only a great orgasm can bring. _Merlin_, he'd needed that. Drawing his sheets over himself, he rolled onto his side and his eyes fluttered shut as sleep washed over him, quiet and peaceful.

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Author's note: I had this chapter written, but somehow it got erased, so I had to start from scratch. I think I've managed to recapture almost everything I had written, but it annoys me that I couldn't remember it word for word because I was happy with the first version. Oh, well, shit happens. Anyway, let me know if you're happy that Sirius is finally getting some, even if it's imaginary. Don't worry, the real thing will happen soon enough, but I warned you at the beginning of this story that the SB/OC part would be a bit of a slow burn, so have patience. Also, I'm wondering if you're happy with the way I'm writing people. Do you think my situations are plausible? Leave me a note!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	13. A Difference Of Opinion

Author's note: I'm glad that everyone seems to be enjoying this for the most part. Obviously, not everyone will like every chapter I write, but that's okay, and I'm always open to constructive criticism. I ask about things making sense because sometimes it's hard to view my writing objectively because I have so much backstory in my head that never made it onto the page. If it had, we'd be looking at chapter 100 by now (perhaps I'm a bit obsessive). It makes sense in my mind, but sometimes my mind doesn't make sense. I wonder if you other authors have the same problem?

**Danneyland**: I'm sure, at some point, they will get to escape to Jeannie's to 'do the dirty' as you so eloquently put it! Hope you enjoyed last chapter's tease and won't get mad at me for prolonging it a little longer. Also, thanks so much for the little lingerie tidbit! I did go back and edit that in and made sure to make a note about it being your idea.

**rlassie**: Speaking of smut, you're right, that wasn't you - that was **Danneyland**. It seems I broke my #1 rule and forgot to doublecheck my reviews before posting the last chapter. So sorry, and I went back and edited it. I'm glad you liked it, though, and I am trying to make Sirius seem a bit more mature.

**Tamaa**: Glad to hear from you! It's perfectly okay to not review every chapter but, of course, I love it when you do ;)

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 13: A Difference Of Opinion

"Sirius."

"Yes, Moony?"

"Go take a shower."

"Why?"

"Because you smell like stale spunk and it's starting to make me gag."

Sirius had woken the next morning refreshed. The physical exertion of the previous afternoon, followed by his private 'exertion' in bed later had been the perfect recipe for a great night's sleep and had done wonders for his mood. Apparently, this hadn't been missed by his werewolf housemate, who had wrinkled his nose as he entered the room and promptly voiced his opinion on the matter. Sirius supposed it was a bit unfair of him to subject Remus to certain smells before his first cup of coffee, so he headed back upstairs to his bathroom whistling the whole way.

After a nice, hot shower, he rejoined his friend in the kitchen and helped himself to some of the coffee Remus had made. Taking a seat at the ancient table, he slowly sipped the black gold. Remus may have been terrible at Potions, but he excelled at hot beverages. Hot chocolate was his specialty, but he was no slouch when it came to coffee and tea. Sirius smiled softly to himself as he thought back to when Lily was pregnant. One of her cravings was very strong tea, and nobody could make it the way she liked it but Remus. He'd almost had to move in with James and Lily at one point because she'd wake up at the most ungodly hours dying for a cup of 'Moony Tea'.

"Do you want the paper?" asked Remus, folding the morning's _Daily Prophet_ and holding it out to Sirius.

"Depends. Is there anything even remotely decent in there today?"

"No," Remus replied with a sigh, tossing the paper on the table.

It weighed heavily on both men how nasty the paper was being to anyone who dared to disagree with the Ministry, namely Harry and Dumbledore. The elderly headmaster had had his share of opposition over the years and he was no stranger to being of a different opinion than those in government, but Harry was different. In addition to still being a teenager, he had inherited his father's hot-headedness, and was having a harder time than ever with the attention directed toward him. Grabbing the paper, Sirius flipped through it until he found the crossword, then threw the rest of it onto the floor and set it on fire. Remus raised an eyebrow at his friend's rather infantile action, but didn't dispute the fact that the paper deserved it.

Sirius summoned a quill and ink from another room and set to work while Remus sat back and enjoyed the peace of the morning. It had been nearly three months since Grimmauld Place had been this quiet and Remus' ears were thankful. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd nearly jumped out of his skin because of an explosion coming from the twins' room or gotten a headache from listening to Molly yell at the twins about said explosions. His only solace was the library, where he could put up a sound muffling charm (he still needed to hear what was going on, just not at such a high volume) and spend some time sifting through the rather impressive Black family book collection. He especially liked it when Hermione joined him.

Remus' respect for the brilliant young witch had grown into a genuine affection. He'd forgotten how much fun it could be to rile up a teenage girl, especially one who knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was right. It was nice to hear such convictions from someone so young, but he sometimes worried for her future. Hermione knew what she believed and why she believed it, but she didn't yet have the life experience of a few catastrophic failures to give her perspective. She honestly couldn't understand how certain people could think a certain way when the facts of the subject clearly proved them wrong and, while it was refreshing to hear such innocence, Remus knew that it would be gone soon enough only to be replaced with a more jaded world view. He just hoped it would strengthen her resolve rather than destroy it.

Just then they heard the floo activate. "Hey, anybody home?" came Jeannie's voice.

Sirius looked up from his crossword to find Jeannie's head sitting in his fire. "Good morning. What can I help you move today?" he asked with a grin.

"Actually I wanted to ask you something."

"I'm all yours, love," he said, sitting back and giving her his full attention while ignoring the smirk on Remus' face.

"Well, I'd like to set up a make-shift lab here if that's alright. I spoke with Severus after the last meeting and he's letting me take over the essential brewing like Wolfsbane and things we may need here, you know, because it's headquarters and I don't want to brew at my place and then transport it over here. Do you think I could have one of the unused bedrooms?" she asked.

Sirius thought about it. "I don't see why not. We can at least clear out a workspace for you while I figure out how to dispose of whatever's in there."

Jeannie smiled. "Great. Can I bring my stuff through?"

"Come on."

Jeannie vanished for a minute, then reappeared carrying a cauldron filled to the brim with objects that had obviously been shrunk and lightened so that she wouldn't have to make more than one trip. Setting the cauldron on the kitchen table, she brushed the ashes off her clothes. Being the start of September, there was a bit of a chill in the air, so Jeannie had worn a white long-sleeved tee with a pair of faded jeans and Sirius' favorite motorcycle boots.

"Morning all," she greeted cheerily.

"Would you like some coffee?" Remus asked. "I think there's some left."

"No, thanks, I'm good. Sleep well?" she asked, directing her question to Sirius.

"Very well, thanks," he answered, sharing a look with Remus.

"So, what exactly will you be brewing?" Remus asked.

"Well, Severus has already finished your Wolfsbane for this month - in fact, the first dose should be arriving sometime today," she said, counting on her fingers the number of days until the full moon. "After this moon, I'll be taking over for you and Max."

"Max?"

"Yeah, he's a werewolf, remember?"

"Yes, I remember, I just didn't know you brewed for him," Remus said, impressed.

"Yep," Jeannie confirmed. "I've brewed his Wolfsbane since I graduated. That was the reason I chose that potion for my NEWT exams."

"That's a really complex potion, isn't it?" Sirius interjected.

"Hey, I'm a Ravenclaw, remember? Nothing is complex, it's just a matter of reading the instructions," Jeannie answered with a grin as the fire turned green again.

The kitchen's occupants turned to see Tonks stumble out of the fireplace. Righting herself, she looked up. "Morning," she mumbled.

"You alright?" Jeannie asked, concerned. She certainly didn't look alright. There were bags under her eyes and her hair had turned a light blue in place of the normal shocking pink.

"Yeah, just fucking exhausted," Tonks replied tiredly. "Had to pull a double shift again. Just got off after reporting to Mad-Eye," she said, moving over to the table where Jeannie was standing. Hopping up to sit on the table, she wound her arm around her friend's waist and laid her head on Jeannie's shoulder.

"Poor baby," Jeannie teased, patting Tonks' thigh and kissing the top of her head. "Why don't you go to bed. You know, _before_ you pass out," she added, watching Tonks' eyes close.

"I'm going, I just needed to rest before braving the stairs," she mumbled into Jeannie's shoulder.

"I'll be right back," Jeannie said to the guys, rolling her eyes and wrapping her arms around the young woman. She apparated them both up to Tonks' room and maneuvered her onto the bed. After wrestling the covers out from under the currently blue-haired witch, she set to work removing her shoes. When those were off, Jeannie tossed the blankets over Tonks, who was already snoring softly, and apparated back down to the kitchen.

"Right, about my potions lab?"

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By the time people started arriving for the meeting, Jeannie had gotten the men to shove the contents of one of Grimmauld's 17,000 bedrooms over to one side of the room so she could at least set up a few cauldrons. Jeannie had always liked potions - there was a method to the supposed madness of ingredients that worked well with the organized chaos of her mind, and it was one of her best subjects when she was in school. Once she got her cauldrons out, she set out the things she'd need for next month's supply of Wolfsbane. She'd brought her extra large cauldron for that one because she would now be brewing a double batch every month. After seeing to all of that, Jeannie left to go back to her place where Max would meet her to get his first dose of the week, then use her floo to get to the meeting.

"Scheisse!" Max shouted. "Does it _have_ to be disgusting?"

"Yes, Max. I'm sorry," Jeannie answered patiently. This was their routine - she brewed, he drank, he cursed, she apologized for the taste.

"Alright," he said, after downing a glass of water to clear his palate. "Let's go."

Jeannie nodded, grabbed his arm and apparated them both to the front step of headquarters. Opening the door carefully, they stepped softly past Sirius' mother and went down to the kitchen where Tonks was complaining loudly to Remus about Sirius' waking techniques.

"He sprayed me right in the face!" she exclaimed while Sirius grinned unrepentantly.

"Who did what?" Jeannie asked, taking a seat next to Tonks who still looked tired, but had gotten her hair to turn pink again.

Tonks whipped around to face Jeannie. "Sirius! He sprayed me in the face to wake me up!"

Remus chuckled behind her, but quieted when Dumbledore walked in. Snape slithered in behind him, walked over to Remus and handed him a smoking goblet. The werewolf sighed, then drained the potion quickly and handed the goblet back to Snape, thanking him. Snape did not acknowledge the gratitude, choosing instead to ignore everyone and take a seat at the far end of the table. Remus didn't seem put out by this, but Jeannie was surprised by the hardness of Sirius' expression. The only time she'd seen that look of loathing on his face was when he had to deal with his mother's portrait. Looking down the table, she saw that Snape held a similar look. Apparently, the school-boy hatred Tonks had told her about was alive and well.

"Good evening, everyone," Dumbledore greeted. "We have several things to discuss tonight. First - Alastor, would you give us an update on Sturgis Podmore?"

Mad-Eye nodded. "It seems that Podmore was caught two nights ago trying to break into the Department of Mysteries. From what I could gather, when he was arrested he seemed confused and couldn't give a decent explanation of why he was there. The more I hear, the more I think he was Imperiused. How and why, I don't know, but I intend to find out," he ended in a growl.

"Thank you, Alastor," said Dumbledore. "I agree, it does sound like the Imperius Curse. We need details as soon as possible. Now to Remus and Max - do either of you have anything on the werewolf packs?"

"Unfortunately," Remus began, "it's even harder for me to gather information from the source this time around. During the First War, I could pretend that I had become disillusioned with the wizarding life that my parents had wanted for me, but now that is not the case. It's obvious that I've tried my hardest to make a place for myself in the wizarding world and, because of the way my teaching year ended, my name is too recognizable." He sighed. "I fear that, this time around, I will be fairly useless with my own kind."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "I was afraid of that. Max, do you think you would be of any use to us in trying to find out where the werewolves stand?"

Max considered this for a moment. "It is possible. You see, when I was bitten, I was immediately sent to live with the circus as soon as my injuries had healed. The circus is not viewed the same way as the wizarding community. It is a community all it's own. We live on the fringe of society, much like the werewolf clans, and interact only when necessary. The circus that Jeannie and I are from is a mix of magic and Muggle. Jeannie is the only fully trained witch that has lived with us that I know of, but there are a few who have magical abilities. As for creatures like myself, there have been a few come and go. I may be able to contact them, but I have no idea how I will be received."

"I think you should try," said Dumbledore. "That is, if you are willing. It would be very helpful to know where we stand with the magical creatures. Also, if you have any international contacts. Be on your guard, though - Voldemort is being very quiet about his recruiting and he has spies everywhere. Jeannie, that goes for you as well," he said, turning to her. "If there is anyone you've met on your travels that may be sympathetic to our cause, please don't hesitate."

Jeannie nodded and Dumbledore moved on. "Severus, is there any news?"

"Not yet, Headmaster," the dark man drawled. "I only found out about Podmore today and I haven't had an opportunity to see about that yet. However," he continued, ignoring Sirius' snort from the other end of the room. "The Dark Lord is becoming more active in terms of recruiting. He seems to feel that he does not have the head start he had last time and is trying to make up for lost time. In addition to that, he is continually obsessed with obtaining the prophecy."

"Albus," Jeannie interrupted. "Exactly how much does Harry know about the prophecy and, er - _related issues_?" she asked.

"Very little, from what I can tell. Which is how it should be for now. I believe that he has never known about the prophecy, but I think he is beginning to suspect that his connection to Voldemort is deeper than first thought," Dumbledore answered.

"Okay, um, are you planning on telling him any of this?" she asked. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "I don't mean _everything_. Just some of it. Enough for it to make sense to him. Just enough so that he doesn't feel the need to go digging around for information. I mean, I heard about his temper tantrum when he finally got here and found out about the Order and all."

"I do not intend to run the Order of the Phoenix around a teenage boy's temper tantrums," Dumbledore said, just a bit coldly.

"I'm not suggesting that you do," said Jeannie patiently. "All I'm saying is that if I was a strong, intelligent, proactive teenage boy who _knew _that he was a very important piece of a very important puzzle, I'd want to know why. And if those who knew why weren't willing to tell me, I'd try to find out another way. He doesn't need to be hearing fairy tales from other people who think they know something; he needs to be hearing facts from you."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sirius nod in agreement.

"I don't think you understand, Jeannie," said Dumbledore. "I cannot give Harry facts right now, nor do I want to. One of the _related issues_ you alluded to is the _fact_ that Harry somehow shares a direct connection to the Dark Lord's mind. I cannot risk Harry knowing anything about our movements."

Jeannie sat there stunned. Harry and Voldemort were connected?! "Does he know this?" she asked softly.

"Harry or Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked. "I think Harry suspects there is more going on than just a cursed scar, but I have no evidence so far that Voldemort is aware of this. Yet. He will be soon enough, I'm sure. Tom is a master Legilimens."

"So let me get this straight," Jeannie started, beginning to lose patience. "What you have is a teenage boy who is not only battling hormones and emotions, but has a direct mental connection to the most evil Dark Wizard in history, and the people he trusts are going to keep him in the dark about it? Aren't you even going to try to teach him Occlumency?"

"I'm not. Severus is," Dumbledore answered simply.

"What?!" Sirius roared as Jeannie laughed out loud. "Albus, you can't mean that!"

"I do mean it, Sirius. Severus is an excellent Legilimens and Occlumens," Dumbledore said mildly.

"I assure you, Black, this is not my choice," Snape said silkily.

"Really, Albus, you must be joking," Jeannie said, incredulous. "Harry and Severus hate each other! Even I can see that. I have no doubt that Severus is highly skilled, but do you really expect them to be able to control their emotions like that?"

"They'll have to," Dumbledore said shortly, clearly tiring of this topic.

Jeannie sat back, amazed at the old man's blase attitude. "I think it should be said, Albus, that you are completely wrong on this and it's going to end badly for everyone involved." She took a deep breath. "From what I've heard of Harry's childhood, you and Hagrid are probably the first people he ever felt he could trust. I can only imagine the resentment he's going to feel when he finds out that he's been manipulated and lied to the whole time."

"I am not lying to Harry," Dumbledore said, his voice taking a dangerous tone.

"No, not now you're not. The lying was done before now. Lies of omission, trying to retain whatever innocence the boy had left for the 'Greater Good' and not realizing that it was out of your control. He _will_ find out, Albus, and then what will you do?" Jeannie asked, refusing to be cowed.

"I believe that I am still Headmaster of Hogwarts and, as such, how I handle my students is my discretion and not open to discussion," he said with an air of finality. "You have stated your opinion but, in the end, it is my decision. That is all I will say on the subject." Dumbledore directed the last sentence to Sirius, who looked ready to argue.

Jeannie nodded and sat silent for the rest of the meeting while Sirius seethed beside her. She could hear his heavy breathing and wondered if he was going to explode right then and there. Looking around, she met a few pairs of eyes. Tonks gave her a nervous grin, and Remus seemed torn, as if he had thought the same thing at one time or another, but hadn't had the courage to say it. Mad-Eye winked at her - that man feared nobody and nothing and had locked horns with Dumbledore before.

Severus, however, was a different story. He stared at Jeannie with an inscrutable look on his face. She wondered just how deep his emotions ran on the subject. When Jeannie had been a student, she'd had Severus as a teacher and, at first, thought he was a real cold fish. By the time she graduated, however, she had come to realize that his attitude was carefully crafted, and she'd wondered why he felt the need to hide. Maybe now she'd get answers to that, too.

As expected, Sirius had a bit of a meltdown the minute Dumbledore was out the door at the end of the meeting. Leaping out of his chair, he picked it up and launched it across the room with a shout. The wood hit the far wall of the kitchen and broke, leaving large chunks littering the floor. Without a backward glance, he stormed out of the room, presumably heading for the lounge where the liquor was. Remus sighed, then followed his friend, knowing he was probably the only one who could handle him at the moment.

When the others had filed out, Jeannie turned to Tonks. "I'm gonna head home," she said.

"Food first," said Max. "You coming?" he asked Tonks.

Tonks nodded and the three walked out together.

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Author's note: I know this one was a bit longer than usual, but I felt it was important. Also, when Max swears after drinking the Wolfsbane, 'Scheisse' was the closest I could get to the German version of 'Shit'. I apologize if it's wrong, and if any of you speak German, please don't hesitate to correct me.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	14. An Epiphany And A Date

Author's Note: We're celebrating over 2,100 views with this chapter! I don't really have anything to compare that to, but it feels like an accomplishment :)

**James**: Glad you liked the last chapter better. I know it may have been a bit predictable, but I felt it was important to get it out there. I feel that the better set-up I do now, the less explaining I need to do later.

**Danneyland**: You must have read my mind! I was in the middle of this chapter when I got your 'I'm on your side' suggestion, and I totally agree.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 14: An Epiphany And A Date

Jeannie was over at headquarters every day of the following week to begin brewing various potions, but didn't see Sirius once. From what Remus told her, after the meeting Sirius had headed straight for the liquor cabinet and gone on a three-day drunk. This had taken such a toll on him that it took two more days to recover. He'd stayed in his room for most of it, only emerging once or twice to ask Remus what day it was and get a fresh bottle. Finally, six days since she'd last seen him, Sirius appeared in the door-way of the bedroom Jeannie was using as a potions lab.

He looked like shit. Even though he'd showered and attempted to shave, there were large, dark bags under his eyes and he clearly hadn't eaten in days. His clothes hung off him even more than normal and she might have pitied him if she wasn't so pissed off at him. The look in his eyes told her the shower hadn't been able to improve his mood like it'd done for his smell, and she wasn't really sure what to say to him, so she continued brewing and waited for him to speak.

"Giving me the silent treatment?" he asked, his tone pissy. She'd heard the other people in the house have a go at him, and apparently he'd decided that now was her turn.

"No," Jeannie answered guardedly. She wasn't happy with him, but she also didn't want an argument.

"Then why don't you say something?" he tried again, baiting her.

Jeannie sighed, which didn't go unnoticed. "Anything in particular you'd like to hear?" she asked, resigning herself to having to put him in his place.

"Oh, I don't know," he said sarcastically. "How about one of Molly's favorites?" He cleared his throat. "' Really, Sirius, what sort of example are you setting for the children?'" he mocked.

Jeannie shook her head and tried one last time. "I really don't want to argue with you, Sirius."

"Oh, come now, tell me what you think of me. Everyone else has. Let's get it out in the open!" he said.

"Fine!" she snapped, turning around to face him. "Yes, I disapprove of you going on a drunk and avoiding the issue. Happy?"

"You haven't got the right to disapprove of me or anything I do!" Sirius shouted hotly.

"Actually, I think I do! What would happen if Harry needed us during the last few days and you were shit-faced and useless? You'd only be a liability, and one we can't afford, which means you'd have to stay here - which you wouldn't like - which would make things worse. Follow me?"

This took the wind out of Sirius' sails. Apparently none of the people voicing their opinions on his recent behavior had used this argument. His perturbed expression crumbled and morphed into sheepishness. "I hadn't thought about that. I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"That's alright," Jeannie said diplomatically. "We all have our moments. Just wait until Dumbledore pisses me off when I'm on the rag."

Sirius snorted at that and grinned half-heartedly.

Jeannie sighed again. "Sit down, Sirius. Talk to me. What's going on?"

She watched Sirius hang his head, almost in shame, then move into the room and collapse in an old armchair. Ignoring the faint cloud of dust that rose as he sat down, he leaned back in the chair and ran a hand over his face.

"James should have made Remus godfather," he said quietly.

Jeannie finished counting her stirs in one of her cauldrons before replying. "James Potter could not have made Remus Lupin godfather to his child," she said, logically. "No matter how much money he had, the Ministry would never have approved naming a werewolf the legal guardian of the first-born son of a pureblood wizard. You know that, Sirius. Hell, even _I_ know that, and I don't know shit about being a pureblood."

"But Moony would have been better at it," Sirius countered, childishly.

_Gryffindors,_ she thought, _always ignoring hard facts. _Setting her potion to simmer, Jeannie grabbed a chair from the pile of things shoved to the side of the room and moved toward Sirius. Planting the chair backwards in front of him, she straddled it, resting her arms on the back and her head on her arms.

"Sirius, I want you to listen to me very carefully. Are you listening?" she asked, waiting for him to look her in the eye. His silver eyes were dull and haunted as he looked up at her and nodded. "Good. Now, it seems to me that you've had very little time to actually be a godfather. You were absent for much of Harry's life due to circumstances you could not control. It is not your fault that James and Lily are dead" she said carefully, hitting the nail on the head.

Sirius broke eye contact and seemed to shrink in the chair as Jeannie said those words. The same words that haunted his thoughts almost constantly. The same words that he'd tried, unsuccessfully, to drown out with bottle after bottle of Ogden's Old.

Jeannie continued, "Sirius, you need to get to a point where you can stop carrying around someone else's guilt. It is _not_ your fault that things didn't go as planned, it's _not_ your fault that Harry will never know his parents. It's _not_ your fault that Peter escaped again two years ago, and it's _not_ your fault that Dumbledore is choosing to keep Harry in the dark. The only way that you will ever begin to heal is to let some of this stuff go. It's not going to be easy, but I want you to know that I'm here if you need me."

She watched Sirius take several deep breaths, as though willing himself not to break down in front of her.

"On a related note, I need to apologize to you," she said, catching him completely off guard. Sirius looked up at her with confusion in his stormy eyes. "After my disagreement with Dumbledore, I forgot to talk to him about you coming over to my place every so often. I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," he said roughly. "I forgot, too."

Jeannie sighed. He wasn't listening. "It _is_ my fault, Sirius. It was _my_ idea, and _my_ responsibility to bring it up and I apologize," she said pointedly, praying that he'd get the hint.

Sirius opened his mouth to argue the point, but stopped suddenly, realizing that this was what she was talking about. She was trying to tell him that it wasn't _his_ fault that _she'd_ forgotten. He simply wasn't strong enough to carry around everyone else's shortcomings. The whole point of all she'd just said to him hit him like a punch in the gut. The only way to move forward was to let some things go. This wasn't his way. He wasn't any good at it - never had been - and he certainly wasn't ready to tackle the really heavy stuff like James and Lily. But... maybe... perhaps... he could start small? He could try, at least, and maybe make her smile at him again.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at her and said, "That's alright, Jeannie. You'll catch him next time."

It was not exactly what she wanted to hear, but she was smart enough to realize that it was the best she was going to get today. Satisfied for the moment, she nodded and smiled kindly at him. She got up, put her chair back and walked out of the room, leaving Sirius with his thoughts. The raven-haired man reached into his robes and pulled out a small, square mirror. Running his fingers lovingly over it, he brought it close to his face and said clearly "Harry Potter". Nothing happened. Sighing sadly, he replaced the mirror and followed Jeannie out of the room.

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Jeannie made good on her promise and did indeed speak to Dumbledore after the next meeting, which happened to be later that day. He wasn't particularly thrilled with the notion of Sirius leaving Grimmauld, since part of the protection afforded him there was very old blood magic, but Jeannie took the headmaster to her place and showed him what she and Remus had done to make sure Sirius would be safe.

"Albus, we may have a difference of opinion on certain issues, but the last thing I want is to put Sirius in danger. Please believe that. I like Sirius - a lot - and wouldn't have brought him here if myself or Remus could find any major faults with it," she explained. "On the other hand, Sirius _will_ eventually lose whatever sanity he has if he is kept locked in what he views as the prison of Grimmauld Place. It's hard for him to be there on good days, and all I'm asking is to be able to bring him here on the bad days."

The elderly wizard was quiet for several long moments. "Alright," he said finally, "but under no circumstances is Sirius to leave headquarters abandoned. Someone absolutely has to be there at all times. No exceptions."

Jeannie nodded. "I understand."

"I also don't want too many people knowing about this."

"Alright."

"Do you agree with me?" Dumbledore pressed. Apparently, she hadn't been forgiven yet for her words during the last meeting.

Jeannie raised an eyebrow, knowing he was testing her. "Yes, on this point, I agree with you completely."

"But you still think I'm wrong about Harry?"

"I don't think, I know you're wrong," she answered.

Dumbledore nodded. "I'll leave you to tell Sirius the good news. May I use your floo to go straight back to the school? I feel I've been absent long enough."

"Of course. Good night," Jeannie said.

"And to you." Dumbleore bowed slightly and disappeared in a rush of green flame.

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Jeannie stood in front of her fireplace with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot and contemplating her next move. Sirius had been depressed since their little talk earlier and it had only gotten worse when Remus had - once again - absolutely refused to let him accompany him for that night's full moon. Remus and Max had both left immediately after giving their reports and Sirius had sat silently in the corner for the rest of the meeting.

Deciding that she really didn't want him left alone to his own devices, she ran up to her kitchen, grabbed several items and headed once more through the floo. Coming out of Grimmauld's kitchen fire, she found herself confronted with the not unappealing sight of Sirius' backside as he rifled through the pantry looking for leftovers. Clearing her throat, she chuckled as he spun around, alarmed.

"Hungry?" she asked, noticing the container in his hand.

"Yeah, um, I think Molly left enough for two...?" he said, not quite sure what she was doing there.

Jeannie raised the bag she was carrying. "You like lasagna?" Sirius cocked his head in a 'confused dog' sort of way and Jeannie grinned. "I talked to Dumbledore," she said, moving to the counter and setting out her things. "You're free to come over to mine every once in a while, but only if there's someone here to maintain a presence. So, since you're stuck here tonight, I thought I'd come over and make dinner and we could have a 'date night'. What do you say?"

Sirius stared. "But I'm a drunken arsehole" he said intelligently, making Jeannie laugh.

"Don't worry, Sirius" she said, taking the container from him and steering him in the direction of his chair at the head of the table. "I'm quite clear on which arsehole you are." Sitting him down, she smiled at him. "I don't have to stay. If you'd rather be alone, it's okay, I won't be offe- "

"No!" Sirius interrupted. "I mean, uh, I'd like you to stay, I'm just... out of practice" he said, looking up at her. "Especially after my behavior earlier, I'm just surprised that you'd want to be around me."

Jeannie shook her head. "You're going to have to try harder than that if you want to scare me off. Why don't you get us a bottle of wine?"

"Alright," Sirius said as Jeannie turned around and went back to her cooking. Summoning a bottle from the cellar, he flicked his wand again and two glasses appeared. He filled them both, then moved to stand beside Jeannie. Placing one of them in front of her, he leaned against the counter and watched her work.

"Why do you cook the Muggle way?" he asked.

"Because I like to cook and it's more fun to do it the Muggle way. More hands-on," she said, smiling at him again. "It feels like I've actually made something when I do it this way. Does that make sense?"

Sirius shrugged, not having any real experience with it. "I guess. Lily said the same thing about cleaning. Even though she was extremely talented at household charms, she liked doing it the Muggle way when she had time."

"She was Muggle-born, right?" Jeannie asked.

Sirius nodded, taking a sip of his wine. "Yes. Proud of it, too. A lot like Hermione - very smart, very talented." He stared at the floor for a moment, lost in memories. "I don't want to talk about them," he said quietly.

"You don't have to," Jeannie said, pausing in her movements and looking up into his handsome, sad face. "It's me, remember? You don't have to do anything you don't want to do when you're with me. Leave the requirements with everyone else."

Sirius met her eyes for a moment, then looked away again, still ashamed of his previous behavior. She went back to work, putting the lasagna in the oven and starting on a simple salad. He watched in silence, grateful that she wasn't one of those girls who felt the need to fill every available space with conversation. He wasn't really in the mood for talking anyway, but it was nice to not be alone.

"I'm sorry," he said, after a while.

"For what?" Jeannie asked, tossing her salad greens.

"For the way I spoke to you earlier. I was completely out of line. There's really no excuse for the way I've acted this week and I'm sorry for all of it," he answered, his voice slightly hollow.

Something in his tone made Jeannie think that he was apologizing for much, much more than their little spat. However, she was in no mood to deal with his fifteen-year-old baggage and she was not going to be his confessor. She was also not going to allow him to wallow in whatever misery had driven him to go on his drunk. Realizing then that she would have to nip this in the bud if she wanted to have any kind of decent evening with him, she decided to take a rather firm tone.

"Sirius," she said, "you're right. You were out of line. I forgive you." She looked him in the eye. "It's done. It's over. We're not going to revisit the issue. What we _will_ do is eat lasagna, drink wine and swap blackmail on Remus and Tonks. If, tomorrow, you still want to talk about things, we can deal with it then, but now is not the time. Now is the time for garlic bread," she said, offering him a piece.

She waited patiently until he took the bread. As he did, his fingers grazed hers and their eyes met. She looked up at him defiantly, daring him to argue with her. He didn't, choosing instead to return to his chair and eat his bread. Taking another sip of his wine, he decided she was right - tonight was not the night for heavy conversations. There would be plenty of opportunities for that later but, right now, he had a beautiful woman cooking him supper. _Not bad_, he thought, _for a wasted fugitive who's been out of commission since 1981._

Calling upon long-disused charm he said, "You know, I always liked bossy women."

"Is that so?" Jeannie asked in a teasing tone. "I got the impression you didn't like anyone telling you what to do."

Sirius smirked. "It depends, I suppose," he said.

"On?"

"The order given and the attractiveness of the girl," he answered, making her laugh. "Take Molly for instance - she's a very bossy woman, but I have no interest in seeing her naked. You, on the other hand..." he let the statement hang.

Jeannie looked at him over her shoulder and cocked an eyebrow. "I'm a different story, huh?"

"That's one way of putting it."

"Oh, Sirius," Jeannie sighed playfully. "I'm all sorts of different."

"Mmm, yes, I've noticed that," he said, not even trying to hide the fact that he was staring at her arse as she bent over to take the lasagna out of the oven. Flicking his wand, he brought plates and silverware to the table while Jeannie brought over the food. "Smells good," he said.

"One of the benefits of growing up all over the world is being able to sample all different kinds of food," she replied, sitting down and filling her plate. "I can cook just about anything, really. Italian, Greek, Indian, Mexican - I love it all."

Sirius refilled both wine glasses before filling his plate. "You must have left a trail of broken hearts, then. Or do you have a boy in every port?"

Jeannie laughed. "Not quite. There have been plenty of interested parties, but I'm really quite picky."

"I guess that fits. You did go for Remus, after all," he said, making a face.

"Hey, now, I'll have you know that I do not regret that!"

Sirius laughed and they spent the rest of the evening teasing each other and exchanging stories about their mutual friends in the Order. He told her about catching Remus snogging a blonde in a broom closet in their sixth year, and she told him about the time she and Tonks successfully stole Mad-Eyes's favorite hat. It turned out to be a lovely evening and it struck Sirius suddenly that everything seemed to get better when Jeannie arrived.

Sure, Tonks was a lot of fun and frequently made him laugh, but Jeannie was a woman he could match wits with. She seemed to have a deeper understanding of his problems, even though they'd never really had a proper conversation about certain issues. Perhaps it was the fact that she wasn't one of the 'old crowd'; she was just enough of an outsider to be able to give a fresh perspective on things and was somehow able to make him see the positive points of his current situation.

He didn't sleep much that night, his mind wouldn't let him relax, but at least his insomnia wasn't the result of nightmares. No, his mind was full of Jeannie and, if he were honest, he wasn't really all that bothered about the lack of sleep she caused. Staying awake allowed him to replay various parts of their short acquaintance, and he couldn't complain about that. The only thing he really had to worry about was how hard he was going to end up falling for her and how much it would hurt when he landed.

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Author's note: I've never really bought into Sirius being immature, but I think he is quite broken. There are several issues that may never be fully resolved, but I'm going to have him at least try to work on them. Questions? Comments? Cries of despair? I'm open to all, just leave me a note!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	15. Mirror Image

Author's note: First of all, allow me to apologize for the late update this week. One of my dogs has been sick and I simply haven't had as much time to write as normal. She's doing a bit better now, so hopefully I can get back on schedule. Also, I originally intended this to be one chapter, but it's been kicking my butt the whole way. I finally figured out that it needed to be a double post, and I've finally got it where I'm happy with it, but it is a heavy one (two). Please don't be mad at me, remember that Sirius is in a very difficult place right now. Things will get a bit lighter for him after this, he just needs to get his mind right.

**noemi-fin**: Welcome to the party! If you've read the chapters with Max in them, please don't hesitate to correct me if you see something wrong.

**stephanie101**: Thanks for follow!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 15: Mirror Image

September became October and the air got cooler as the season changed. Sirius still hadn't been able to reach Harry through the mirror and he wasn't happy about that, but the boy's letters sounded okay. He'd even been able to floo once and the kids had impressed him. Harry, Ron and Hermione had started their own Defense classes in secret so they would actually be able to learn something this year instead of copying theory out of the textbook without any sort of practical demonstration. From what Remus said about this Umbridge woman, she was absolutely the worst sort of Ministry stooge and both men were worried about Albus' authority being challenged.

Sirius told Jeannie about the mirror issue one evening when she and Tonks decided to stay after a meeting and keep him and Remus company. Tonks looked tired, but she'd stayed anyway and Sirius had a feeling it had something to do with Remus. He'd caught his young cousin staring at his friend on numerous occasions and had recognized the look of infatuation. He doubted, however, that Remus had picked up on it, although Sirius had caught looks from Remus as well. He laughed to himself when he thought of how ridiculous those two would look together. Stodgy Remus with a clearly much younger pink-haired Tonks? The very idea gave him the giggles.

On the subject of the mirror, though, Jeannie'd had an idea. She thought that she could make a 'shopping trip' to Hogsmeade the next time the kids had a weekend trip. By coincidence, of course. She was certain that if she saw Hermione, the brainy Gryffindor would be able to pick up on certain signals and meet her somewhere. Sirius was very happy with that idea, and thanked Jeannie profusely, swearing he'd owe her a favour. He really needed to speak to Harry through the mirror. It was the only way to be absolutely certain that he was okay. He suggested meeting the kids in the Shrieking Shack as it was still believed to be haunted.

This was how Jeannie found herself in the wizarding village freezing her arse off in the mid-October chill as she stepped out of Gladrags and headed toward The Three Broomsticks. She'd decided to make a day of it, and had already visited Honeyduke's to stock up on chocolate (which was loved by not only werewolves, but premenstrual women as well). She'd also been to the Herbology shop, Dogweed and Deathcap, for the plants she needed in a few potions she was brewing.

She didn't really want to go into The Three Broomsticks, as she knew she'd be recognized, but it was the best place to catch someone's eye without looking like you were trying to. If she didn't see them there, she would head over to Tomes and Scrolls where she was absolutely certain Hermione would drag the boys at some point. Stepping into the nice, warm pub, she immediately spotted the kids and caught Hermione's eye, but didn't want to appear friendly with them, so she sat at the bar and ordered one of Rosmerta's famous hot chocolates, biding her time.

Sure enough, moments later, the people who recognized her started making their way up to the bar. A few schoolboys even remembered her from her visit two years ago, though she'd met so many people since then that she couldn't honestly say she remembered them. Not that it mattered, though, because she saw Hermione making her way to the front of the line.

"Could I have your autograph, Miss Jones?" Hermione asked politely, her face completely impassive.

"Sure, honey. What's your name?" Jeannie replied, playing the game and taking the notebook Hermione held out to her.

"Hermione. That' E," she said slowly, giving Jeannie time to write her a note.

"I O N E... right, got it," Jeannie said, smiling at the girl and handing her back the book with a time and place in it.

"Thank you, Miss Jones."

You're very welcome, Hermione," she said with a wink.

Jeannie took a few minutes to finish her hot chocolate and began making her excuses to the crowd that had gathered because of her presence. Checking with Rosmerta to make sure she didn't mind, Jeannie slipped out the back to avoid any more attention and, after checking that nobody was watching, apparated directly into the Shrieking Shack. Blinking away the momentary disorientation that came with apparitition, she found herself facing three drawn wands. She put her hands up.

"I am Jeannie Jones, former acrobat. I'm best friends with Nymphadora Tonks and scared the daylights out of Remus Lupin by sneaking up on him because of a bet made between myself and Sirius Black," she said quietly.

The teenagers nodded and put their wands away.

"Sorry, Jeannie," said Harry.

Jeannie put her finger to her lips to quiet them for another moment. Waving her wand, she cast a series of protective spells on the building to ensure they wouldn't be interrupted or overheard. She had several things she wanted to discuss with them and knew that even though Hogsmeade was still neutral, the streets had ears. When she was done, she turned to the kids.

"Now," she said. "Let's get down to business."

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Jeannie returned to Grimmauld Place later that afternoon to an insanely anxious Sirius. According to Remus, the fugitive had been pacing up and down the sitting room since the previous night. Rolling her eyes at the thought, she sat the men down and told them about her day. Sirius let out a shout and leapt out of his chair to pace again when Jeannie told him that Harry had forgotten entirely about Sirius handing him a package at the station. He calmed slightly when she told him how sorry the boy looked that he'd worried his godfather.

There were other things to fill the men in on, though. Notably, Professor Umbridge's unique style of detention. Jeannie had noticed a bandage on Harry's hand and asked about it, but he'd refused to tell her. Hermione, however, spoke up. Sirius was beyond furious to learn that a teacher was giving his godson scars. It took a while to calm him down, and he only really relaxed when Jeannie heard his name being called from inside his robes. Sirius' eyes got wide as he reached into his pocket to pull out the mirror.

"Harry?" Sirius asked, looking into the glass.

"Hey, Sirius," said the boy.

"Please tell me your okay," Sirius begged.

"I'm fine. I'm really sorry about forgetting to open this. You said to open it when I was alone, but by the time that happened it had completely slipped my mind. Sorry for worrying you," Harry said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it, son. I'm just happy you're alright. This thing's pretty cool, huh?" Sirius said, grinning.

"Yeah, it is. Did you and Dad use it?" Harry asked.

"Oh, all the time. Especially when we had separate detentions."

Harry laughed.

"Did he make it back to the castle okay?" Jeannie asked Sirius.

"Come here and ask him yourself," he said, waving her over. Jeannie took a seat on the armrest of Sirius' favorite chair and looked into the mirror. A boy with black hair and green eyes looked back at her.

"Damn," she said. "This is cool."

"Hi, Jeannie," Harry said.

"Hey, sweetie. Did you guys get back okay?" she asked as Remus moved to the other side of the chair and took a knee.

"Yeah, we're fine. Sorry again about pulling my wand on you."

Sirius looked concerned. "Why were wands drawn?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but Jeannie beat him to it. "They did exactly what they should have. They got to the Shack before I did, and when I apparated in, they drew their wands and confirmed my identity. I suspect they learned that little tidbit from listening to Order meetings with those Extendable Ears," she said slyly, making Harry grin.

"Hey, tell me about these secret Defense classes," Sirius said, remembering their floo conversation.

"Well, we've only had a couple so far, but we've got to do something! That cow Umbridge isn't going to teach us anything!" he said hotly.

"Speaking of," Sirius said, darkly, "show me your hand."

Harry scowled and sighed, but put the mirror down so he could unwrap the bandage. He raised his hand so he could show it to Sirius through the mirror. It was faint, but they could make out the shiny, pink words _I must not tell lies_. Jeannie could feel Sirius tense beside her and thought she heard a faint growl, but couldn't be sure which canine it'd come from.

"Have you told Dumbledore about this, Harry?" Remus asked.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Harry countered bitterly. "He hasn't even looked at me all year, much less spoken to me. He can't be mad at me about this summer, can he?"

"He was never mad at you about this summer, Harry," Sirius cut in, a hard look on his face. Remus put a warning hand on his friend's wrist to remind him not to say too much.

"We'll say something to him at the next meeting, Harry," Jeannie said, closing the subject. Harry opened his mouth like he was about to say something else, but looked up suddenly, distracted by something on his end. He spoke, beckoning someone over and, within moments, the ginger head of Ron Weasley was in the mirror.

"Wicked!" said Ron, eyes wide. "We've gotta show this to Hermione."

"Where is she?" Remus asked.

Ron shrugged. "Probably knitting another hat for Dobby."

"Dobby?" asked Sirius.

"Friend of mine," said Harry. "He's a house-elf. It's - er - kind of a long story," he added, seeing Sirius perplexed look.

"Um, okay?" said Sirius uncertainly. "Wait a minute - does this have anything to do with that 'spew' Hermione was talking about over the summer?"

"S.P.E.W.," Remus corrected.

"Ah, you're as bad as her!" exclaimed Ron, staring at Remus and making the man chuckle.

"It really is a long story," Harry said. "I promise I'll tell you sometime. You'll like Dobby."

"Alright," Sirius said, still not quite sure he had any idea what Harry was talking about. "Harry, I want you to promise me something. Promise me that you'll keep this mirror on you at all times. That's very important. It's the best way we have to get in touch with you and you with us."

Harry nodded, his face serious. "I promise. Thanks, Sirius, this really is great."

"My pleasure, son. We didn't get nearly as much time together over the summer as I would have liked, so talk to me through the mirror whenever you want to, don't be afraid of interrupting, okay?"

"Alright. I'm going to go get supper with Ron. We'll talk later, okay?" Harry said.

"Anytime," Sirius promised.

"Harry," Remus cut in. "If you need any help with those Defense classes, use the mirror. Even if I'm not here, Sirius can give you pointers or get in touch with me, okay?"

The teenager nodded. "Okay. That's great, because I do have a few things I want to talk to you about."

"Anything, anytime," Remus promised, echoing Sirius.

"Okay, talk to you later." Harry's face vanished from the mirror and the glass went blank. Sirius leaned his head back on the headrest of his armchair and sighed. He hadn't realized just how tense he was about that until right now.

"Thank you, Jeannie," he said seriously, turning his head to look at her.

She smiled at him. "No problem. Hey, I've got a craving for Chinese tonight. I could bring back enough for three...?"

"Four," said a voice from the doorway.

They looked up to see Tonks enter the room. Collapsing ungracefully next to Remus as he resumed his place on the sofa, she eyed her cousin and best friend, who were still on the same chair - Sirius in the seat and Jeannie on the armrest. "You two look cozy. Have I been away that long?" she asked Remus, who smiled at her.

Jeannie made a face at her. "Dumplings?" she asked, knowing they were Tonks' favorite. Tonks grinned and nodded enthusiastically. After getting everyone's requests, Jeannie headed to the door.

"Wait," Sirius said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out his money pouch and tossed it to Jeannie. "My treat, yeah?"

"Fine by me," she said.

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Jeannie returned with enough for everyone and then some. Tossing Sirius' money bag back to him, she set everything on the coffee table and flicked her wand in the direction of the kitchen, summoning plates and forks and glasses to the sitting room. Tonks slid off the couch and onto the floor, recognizing that they would be eating family-style tonight, and tugged at Remus' pant leg to get him to join her. He did, folding his long legs under the table and reaching for a box of food.

"Jeannie, would you like some shrimp lo mein?" Remus asked.

"No," Tonks answered for her. "Jeannie's allergic to shellfish."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Remus apologized.

"No problem," Jeannie said, "but if you find the vegetable lo mein, it's mine. Tonksie, here's your dumplings."

Remus and Sirius watched curiously as the girls filled each other's plates. They had obviously done this many times before, and each knew exactly how the other liked her food.

"Do you still like snow peas, Messer Padfoot?" Remus asked, after the girls had gotten their fill.

"I certainly do, Messer Moony. Would you like some teriyaki chicken?" Sirius replied.

"Mmm, don't mind if I do." Remus placed a couple skewers on his plate, then went for the white rice, looking up when he noticed Tonks watching him carefully. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you want some white rice?" he asked her.

"Hmm? Oh, no thanks. How do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?" he replied, mystified.

"Use chopsticks! I always end up wearing more food than I've eaten. How do you do it?"

Sirius and Jeannie laughed. Remus put down the box and picked up his chopsticks to show her. "It's really not that hard, it just takes practice," he said, moving them this way and that in his hands. Tonks watched him for a minute, then shook her head.

"Nope, I'll stick to my fork, thanks" she said decisively.

Remus chuckled.

"Yes, thank you," Jeannie agreed. Tonks pouted at her. "I don't want to be wearing your food, either!" she said, making Tonks stick her tongue out at her.

"We can't all be freakishly well-coordinated like you, Jeannie!" said Tonks.

"We can't all be freakishly colourful like you, either, Tonks!" Jeannie countered.

"Girls, girls!" Remus said, breaking up what looked to be the start of a possible food fight. "Eat your food!"

"Yes, Professor," they said together.

Remus rolled his eyes, while Sirius laughed. "Going to take points, Professor?" Sirius asked.

"I'm eternally grateful that I wasn't teaching when they were in school," Remus said, wearily.

"I don't know," Jeannie said. "That might have been fun." She caught Sirius' eye and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Jeannie, don't start," Remus pleaded.

Sirius and Tonks laughed, and they went back to their food. It had been a while since Jeannie'd had a nice quiet supper with just a few friends and she was enjoying herself. They traded stories and teased each other and everyone forgot for a while where they were and why they were there. At one point, Sirius caught her eye and nodded towards Tonks and Remus. Jeannie watched them for a while and had to bite back a laugh. They were worse than teenagers! When one would look up, the other would look down and on the rare occasion that they met the other's eye, they would both look away and the tips of Remus' ears would turn red.

Jeannie looked at Sirius and saw him stifling laughter as well. After supper, Tonks elected to stay at Grimmauld for the night instead of going home, but Jeannie wanted her own bed so, after making sure the leftovers were put away properly, she bade everyone goodnight and floo'd home. Chuckling to herself at the antics of her best friend and one-time lover, she went through her nightly routine, and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

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Author's note: Read chapter 16 and then leave me a note about both, please.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	16. Nightmares

Author's note: Remember, this is a DOUBLE POST! Don't forget to read chapter 15 as well.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 16: Nightmares

The days went by and Jeannie fell into a rhythm. She would wake up in the morning, do her work-out as usual, have a shower and some breakfast and then head over to Headquarters to work on her potions and check in with the Order. Sometimes other people would be there, sometimes not. Molly would show up occasionally to tidy up a bit and leave food for Sirius and Remus, and various other Order members would pop in and out, leaving messages with Sirius or catching a few hours rest before heading off on errands or jobs.

Then came Halloween. The week leading up to it had been difficult; Sirius had become more depressed and withdrawn day after day, and spent more time than ever hiding in his room. According to Remus, however, he had _not_ been drinking - the aftermath of his last foray into drunken oblivion apparently still fresh in his mind. No, instead he was choosing to suffer in silence, which Jeannie thought could very well end badly, given the subject matter and Sirius' volatile personality.

The morning of Halloween dawned beautifully. The air was crisp with the winter chill and the sun shone brightly on all the muggle children taking the last opportunity to get their costumes right for trick-or-treating that evening. Sometime in the early evening, Jeannie found herself flooing back into Grimmauld Place's kitchen. She'd gone over to the Burrow for a cup of tea with Molly and the older woman had suggested that she take some food over to Remus and Sirius as it was unlikely that they would be in any mood to feed themselves.

Looking up from dusting off her jacket, Jeannie was met with a surprisingly quiet house. There was nobody in the kitchen and she couldn't hear anything going on above her. Leaving the food in the kitchen, she set off to find someone. She passed Kreacher in the front hall whispering to Sirius' mother's portrait, but chose to ignore the house-elf. Finding nobody in the sitting room, she proceeded to the library. _Success, _she thought, as Remus looked up from his book and gave her a small smile.

"Evening," he greeted her.

"Hey," she said, taking the seat next to him on the sofa. "It's awful quiet, is everything okay?"

He shrugged. "It's a bad day for us, Jeannie. This is my fourteenth Halloween without James and Lily and it hurts every time."

"Where's Sirius?" she asked, concerned.

"In his bedroom. I haven't seen him all day. Heard him pacing earlier, but it's been quiet for a while now."

"Do you think we should check on him?"

"I don't think so," Remus answered, closing his book. "Sirius will come out when he's ready and not before."

"If you say so," said Jeannie, not entirely convinced. "Molly sent food over, are you hungry?"

"Not right now, but thank y- " he stopped suddenly, his head snapping up and cocking his ear to the side.

Jeannie looked at him questioningly, but then she heard it, too. A long, drawn-out moan followed by what sounded like a cross between a shout and a sob.

"Sirius," they said together, bolting out of the room and heading for the stairs.

"This happen often?" Jeannie asked, struggling to keep up with Remus' much longer legs.

"Yeah. Sometimes he comes out of it on his own, but once he starts shouting, I have to wake him," Remus filled her in as they rushed to Sirius' bedroom.

The door was closed, but Remus ignored this, bursting through in order to get to his friend who was thrashing violently on the bed, clearly in the midst of a nightmare.

"Padfoot!" Remus shouted, trying to grab one of Sirius' arms before he did any damage to himself. Sirius did not wake up, but continued to flail his limbs, shaking Remus off in the process. Swearing, Remus grabbed at him again, while Jeannie came around the other side of the bed and crawled onto it to give herself some leverage. Taking Sirius' other arm, she held it steady while Remus shouted at him again to wake him.

This time it did work. Sirius' eyes opened, but he didn't seem to comprehend where he was or why there were people holding him down. He gave another shout and wrenched his arm from Jeannie's grasp, causing her to lose her balance and topple onto the floor, landing on her backside and letting out a curse._ That_ woke Sirius up completely. His head whipped around to face Jeannie, who was still on the floor.

"Oh, gods, no" he whimpered, bringing his knees up to his chest and burying his face in his hands, sobbing.

Jeannie blinked, then shook her head to snap her out of her shock. "Sirius," she said softly, getting up and sitting on the bed again. "Sirius, sweetie, you didn't hurt me - I'm fine, really. You just startled me, that's all." She reached out a hand and touched his knee, but he flinched away from her and started rocking himself.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked quietly.

"I'm fine," she said. "Listen, are you going to be here all night?"

Remus nodded. "Why?"

"I think he needs to get out of here. He can spend the night at my place, there are no demons or monsters under the bed there," she said.

Remus looked skeptical. "What if he has another nightmare?" he asked, eyeing the man still curled up on the bed, muttering "I'm sorry" over and over again.

"If he does, he does," Jeannie said. "I'll stay close enough to wake him before it gets bad like this."

"Only if you're positive, Jeannie," Remus said, still not completely okay with it.

"I am," she said confidently.

"Alright, but keep your wand on you, and if you need me, send a patronus immediately."

Jeannie nodded, then turned back to Sirius. "Sirius?"

"No, no, no" he muttered.

"Sweetie, you're going to come home with me, okay?" she said, not entirely sure he was listening to her. She needed to snap him out of this. Placing her hands on his knees, she pushed down, straightening his legs into a sitting position on the bed. Leaving his hands over his face, she slowly climbed on top of him, straddling his lap. She felt him stiffen at the contact, then begin trembling.

"Sirius, just hang on, okay? I'm going to apparate us over to my place," she said, sharing a look with Remus, who handed her Sirius' wand, and wrapping her arms around Sirius' shaking shoulders. Concentrating very precisely, Jeannie counted to three, whispering the numbers in Sirius' ear to prepare him, then twisted sharply, taking Sirius with her.

The next thing Sirius knew, he was landing on something soft and something soft was landing on him. Jeannie pulled back just a bit to make sure she was where she wanted to be, then placed a hand on Sirius' chest and gave a gentle push. He fell back with a small grunt, and the sudden action was enough to pull his hands from his face. He blinked rapidly, his eyes flickering around the room in a skittish-animal sort of way, before settling on Jeannie who was still on top of him.

Jeannie gave him a small smile before climbing off him and laying on her stomach next to him. The poor man was drenched in sweat and tears, and there were bags under his eyes again.

"You're going to spend the night here, is that okay with you?" she asked him quietly, now that his eyes had cleared some and she was sure he could understand her.

He was motionless for a moment, then gave a small nod.

"Okay, good. Are you hungry at all?" she asked.

Sirius shook his head.

"Okay. I am, so why don't you have a nice, hot shower while I get something to eat, hmm?" she asked, getting up and crossing the room to her dresser. Rummaging through one of the drawers, she pulled out an old t-shirt and flannel sleep pants. Waving her wand over them, she made the pants longer and the shirt a bit bigger so they'd fit Sirius.

Tossing the clothes onto the bed next to Sirius, she headed out of the room to give him some privacy. "The bathroom's right across the hall," she said.

The level of anxiety Sirius was dealing with at the moment was astronomical. _Why is she doing this? Is she mad at me? Is it pity? I'm sleeping here tonight? Wait - here, in her bed? With her? What if I have another nightmare? What if I hurt her again? What if - _

Sirius heard her moving about in what he supposed was her kitchen, and that snapped him out of his inner monologue. Sitting up, he grabbed the clothes she'd left for him and went to find the shower. Closing the door behind him, he took a look around. It was definitely a woman's bathroom. Pretty and clean, with white tiles and lavender flowers on the wallpaper. Stripping off his own clothes, he turned on the shower, making it as hot as he could stand it. Climbing in, he took a moment to enjoy the hot spray.

There was nothing in the world like a hot shower. He'd gone so very long without being properly clean that it was something he took advantage of at every opportunity. In fact, Remus had teased him when they'd first moved into Grimmauld Place about how long he spent in the shower. He couldn't help it, it was one of his favourite (and few) luxuries. He quickly scrubbed himself down, getting rid of the sweat from his nightmare and looked around for shampoo. Picking the one with the least fragrance to it, he made short work of his hair as well.

Satisfied that he was clean, Sirius turned off the spray and stepped out of the shower. He dried himself off and pulled on the clothes Jeannie'd lent him, wondering briefly who they'd belonged to originally. Crossing the hall again, he stepped back into Jeannie's bedroom, grabbed his wand and pointed it at his head to instantly dry his hair. After a moment of indecision, Sirius sat on the bed cross-legged, and waited for Jeannie to return.

He didn't have to wait long. Just a few minutes later, the lady herself reappeared, yawning. She gave Sirius a smile, and he tried to return it, but didn't quite make it. He looked a little uncomfortable, as if he wasn't completely sure he was allowed to be sitting on her bed, but she chose not to address that, instead making her way back to her dresser to get her pyjamas. She pulled out a t-shirt and soft sleep pants like the ones she'd lent Sirius and headed for the bathroom to change.

Returning to her room, she walked past Sirius and climbed into bed, patting the spot next to her. Sirius looked at her an raised an eyebrow. Jeannie rolled her eyes and shook her head, then patted the bed again. Slowly, Sirius moved up the bed and slid under the covers beside her. They both rolled onto their sides to face each other.

"I promise not to jump you in the middle of the night," she said, making his mouth twitch in amusement. "You're going to sleep here so I can be close enough if you need me. If you wake up and need something, don't hesitate to wake me up. You know where the bathroom is, and the kitchen is at the other end of the hall, so feel free to wander around if you need to. Okay?"

He nodded.

"Good. Lights out?"

Another nod.

Jeannie waved her wand and the room was bathed in darkness. She placed her wand on the nightstand and snuggled deeper into the covers. Sirius rolled onto his back and debated whether or not he really wanted to allow himself to go to sleep. There was the possibility that he would wake up in the middle of a nightmare again to find that he'd thrown Jeannie to the floor - again - and he didn't want that. He also didn't want to do anything inappropriate like fondle her in his sleep. Or wake up with an erection. Sleeping next to a woman could be dangerous, especially when one hadn't for a while. Pretty soon, however, the decision was taken out of his hands as the sound of her even breathing and the knowledge that he wasn't at Grimmauld Place lulled him into dreamland.

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Sirius woke the next morning alone. Alone and in a strange bed. It took him a minute to recognize his surroundings and remember the events of the previous night. When he did, though, he quickly looked around to make sure Jeannie was not in the room, then grabbed her pillow and buried his face in it, inhaling deeply. Her scent was quickly becoming as comforting to him as it was arousing, and Sirius had to be careful to just smell and not allow his body to react.

Despite feeling very well-rested, he had woken up a couple times in the middle of the night to find Jeannie snuggled into his side or pressed against his front as he spooned her from behind. On each occasion, he had gently extricated himself from her for fear of his body betraying him. It was bad enough watching her walk around his house and smelling her presence there; he wasn't at all sure he could handle spooning her. In fact, he was positive that it was a bad idea.

Once he'd gotten a good sniff, he decided that he probably needed to get up and find her. And find out what time it was. Hauling himself up into a sitting position, he leaned against the headboard and grabbed his wand, casting a _tempus_ spell to get the time. Hmm, only 8 am. He could have sworn it felt later than that, although he wasn't exactly sure when he'd gotten there last night.

Sirius swung his legs out of the bed and, after coming into contact with the cold floor, transfigured his clothes from last night into a pair of slippers. He stretched, then walked out of the bedroom in search of Jeannie. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, he heard music coming from the direction of the shop downstairs where Jeannie kept what she called her 'work-out equipment'. What exactly all of that was, Sirius still wasn't sure, even though she'd tried explaining it to him.

Walking out onto the landing, he stopped dead in his tracks. Jeannie was there, all right, balancing precariously on a vertical pole like one Sirius had seen at a sleazy muggle bar one time, and wearing the shortest, tightest shorts and the smallest, tightest top he'd ever seen. There was just barely too much fabric for the clothes to be considered underwear. He watched as she swung herself around the pole gracefully and couldn't help but think how he'd never thought there would be that much strength in such a small body.

Sirius leaned against the railing and watched her go through her routine. She twisted and turned and did things that he knew for a fact were impossible. But there she was doing them. Finally, she seemed to have had enough, and slid down the pole, ending in a split on the floor. Sirius couldn't help it, he applauded. Jeannie jumped slightly, not having realized he was watching her, then grinned at him.

"Is this all part of 'acrobat'?" he called down to her.

"Yep. One of these days, I'm going to convince you to work-out with me," she said, walking up the staircase and wiping the sweat from her body.

"I wouldn't hold your breath on that, love. I'm having too much fun watching."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah" she said, walking past him towards her bedroom. "I need a shower. I won't be long."

Sirius watched her grab fresh clothes and head into the bathroom, then heard the water turn on. He resisted the urge to rub his face into her discarded sweat towel, but only just. Perhaps he was becoming too much like Padfoot. Deciding to wait for her, he slipped back under the warm covers of her bed, resting his head against the headboard and began to brood.

He couldn't stay there, he knew. At some point he'd have to return to Grimmauld, to reality. This was just a temporary reprieve. Before that happened, though, he wanted - no, needed - her to know just how much her very presence was helping him deal with everything. The previous night was not the first time or the second time or even the third time that Jeannie had dropped everything and ran to his rescue. Sirius hadn't been able to speak to her before going to sleep. His nightmare had been too close and he hadn't had it in him to talk about it.

That was another thing that never ceased to amaze him. She _never_ made him talk, always waiting for him to come to her if and when he was ready. And if he wasn't ready, she never pressed him. She let him deal with things in his own way, only interfering if it directly affected her or if she thought he was doing himself harm or being harmful to the Order.

Now, watching her walk back in with her hair wrapped up in a towel, he decided he wanted to talk. Catching her eye, he patted the spot next to him like she'd done the previous night. Jeannie raised an eyebrow at him, but walked over and made herself comfortable. She looked up at him and waited for him to speak. Sirius took a deep breath before starting the heavy conversation.

"I know I've been saying this a lot, lately, but - thank you, Jeannie." Jeannie opened her mouth to answer, but he cut her off. "No, really. The people in the Order tolerate me, Remus is my best friend, Tonks is my cousin and Molly would probably 'mother' her own mother if given the chance, but you've been very _kind_ to me. Genuinely kind, when you've had no real reason to be other than the fact that you're a very good person. I want you to know that I appreciate that. Very much."

Sirius took a deep breath, trying to find the words. "It's not easy for me to speak like this. I've spent - well, most of my life, really, hiding my emotions because every time I don't it comes back to bite me, usually in the worst way possible. My parents were not affectionate people, and I never knew that parents could be affectionate until I met James'. They truly loved their son - something I had never known, and it took a while for me to learn that that was the way it was supposed to be."

"In Azkaban, I spent an awful lot of time as a dog, because a dog's emotions are so much simpler than a human's. I had to hide, because if I didn't, there was a Dementor ready and waiting to take away whatever I had left. The vast majority of the wizarding world still looks at me with revulsion, so I've become very attached to those who don't, especially you. Let me explain - " he took another deep breath, " you and Max are the only people that didn't know me from before. You have absolutely no reason to trust me and yet you do. You have no reason to care about me and yet you do. You have no reason to be kind to me and yet you are and I want you to know that I value that immensely."

He broke eye contact with her and looked at the floor. "I'm saying this now, because I have no doubt that, at some point, I'm going to say something or do something that I'm going to have to apologize for. When that time comes, I want you to remember this conversation and remember that there are times when I'm not a bastard. My actions seem to always have harsher consequences than everyone else's and I don't want to lose your friendship because of things left unsaid. I've done that before, and I lost everything. I don't want to that again."

Jeannie was quiet for a long moment, processing Sirius opening up to her like this. "I appreciate you talking to me, Sirius," she said, finally. "I know you don't like to, but I want you to know that I don't look at you any differently because of last night. We all have demons, and yours are worse than most. There's no shame in that, and you know you can always come here when you need to. Even if I'm not here, the wards will recognize your magical signature, you can come in and do what you need to do, okay?"

Sirius nodded, then smiled at her. "I need to get back. I'll wash these clothes and you can pick them up next time you come over."

"Alright," said Jeannie, watching him get up and walk out the door. She dimly heard the floo activate, then silence. Exhaling heavily, she laid down, her back hitting the covers. _Damn, I should have kissed him,_ she thought.

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Author's Note: This is the end of dark Sirius for a while; the healing has begun. Did I end it well, or was it too dark?

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	17. Of Tooth And Claw

Author's Note: A sad note before we begin: I had to put one of my dogs down on Monday. I'm heartbroken, of course, but writing is a welcome distraction and hearing from you guys is fantastic. I'm so happy that everyone seemed to love how Jeannie cares for Sirius. I wanted to portray Sirius as PTSD rather than bi-polar, and I'm glad that seems to be coming through. For this chapter, we're going to take a bit of a break from J/S and have a bit more Max (I feel I've been neglecting him). Enjoy!

**onetrueking**: No, I absolutely will not kill Sirius, you have nothing to fear on that score :) I'm so glad you're enjoying it, and feel free to leave me your thoughts!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 17: Of Tooth And Claw

A lone figure made his way through the thinning crowd, walking quickly and purposefully toward the caravans behind the big tent of the circus currently performing in Huntingdon. The market town was roughly 60 miles north of London and was a favorite stopping place for smaller, mostly family-run circuses. The man was wearing a black, knee-length peacoat and would have blended in nicely with the night if it hadn't been for his blonde hair. Very tall and very broad-shouldered, he cut an easy path through the people milling about and walked up to the third caravan, knocking on the door.

The door opened, revealing a much smaller man who looked to be as wide as he was tall. Speaking briefly to the blonde, he stepped aside to let the larger man in. Ducking so as not to hit his head, the visitor entered the small caravan, closing the door behind him. Looking around, he saw that things hadn't changed since the last time he'd been to visit. Same sofa, same table - it even looked like the same unwashed dishes in the sink.

"Would ye like a whiskey, Max?" the smaller man asked in a thick Irish accent.

"Danke," Max answered, accepting a tumbler of brown liquor and taking a seat on the small sofa.

The fat Irishman poured himself a glass and sat down in his reclining chair next to the sofa. "Now," he said, "what can I do for ye, lad?"

Max took a deep breath and started talking. He'd debated with himself for a long time about this visit, but in the end, he'd decided it was necessary. Alastar Conor was not a werewolf; what he was was a contact point. He knew every werewolf in the United Kingdom, and he knew where to find them. He was a keeper of secrets, a trustworthy messenger, a sympathetic ear. This also made him somewhat dangerous, because he knew something about everybody. The fact that he was still alive, however, spoke to his integrity and his neutrality. He was Switzerland; he knew everything and everybody and still somehow managed to stay un-involved.

Alastar listened patiently while Max spoke. Max gave him a vague overview of the information he wanted, knowing that Alastar would be able to read between the lines. He told him that he wanted to feel out the werewolf packs, see where they were in the magical scheme of things. Like the circus that Max and Jeannie were from, Alastar's circus was a mix of magic and Muggle, and the Irishman nodded knowingly when Max mentioned Dark forces on the move. Max was very careful, however, to _not_ mention things like _Dumbledore_ or _Order_.

"Hmm," said Alastar, after a long silence. "Tell me somethin', lad. Are ye connected to a man named Remus Lupin?"

Max went still. He wasn't sure how to answer that without giving away the Order.

"Oh, come now, lad. Don't play coy with me. I know everyone, remember?" Alastar chuckled. "I seem to remember a time some fifteen years ago, or thereabouts, when a young man just out of that magical school in Scotland came 'round asking the same sort of questions. Wantin' to know 'who' and 'where'. So - I'll ask again - do ye know Remus Lupin?"

Max relented. "Yes, I know him," he said, choosing his words carefully. "We share some... political views."

Alastar nodded. "I thought so, lad," he said, sitting back in his chair. His face turned serious. "Do you mind if I speak frankly?" he asked.

"Please do," answered Max. He was German, after all; he liked plain talk.

"Be careful, Max," Alastar warned. "Yer not the only one askin' questions. There is a restlessness in the were's I've met lately. They seem to think that they're time is comin'. I've heard they're bein' promised things - powers and freedoms - and you know the temptation is strong. The packs are reformin', alphas are takin' charge and the few voices of reason left are bein' drowned out."

The Irishman leaned forward and pinned Max with a hard look. " Don't waste your time with them that's already followin' Fenrir Greyback. They've already made up their minds. The time for reasonin' is over. Your kind have been marginalized for too long and the resentment can't be undone. Talk to the ones that are on the fence. Find the ones like yerself - the ones that haven't been spit on and run out of town. Find the lone wolves - the ones who move on before they wear out their welcome. Those are the ones you need to be talking to. Don't bother goin' to the packs. Yeh've never been a pack wolf, and they'd know it. Ye would not be safe, lad."

Max sighed heavily and let his shoulders droop. This was not what he wanted to hear, but he knew it was the truth. Not only was Alastar Conor not a lying man, Max could smell no deception on him. The heightened senses that came with being a werewolf had their uses.

"I appreciate your advice, Alastar, and I'll take it. I have no desire to put another target on my back," Max said. "Can you give me just one name, though? Just to get me started?" He knew that if anyone could point him in the right direction, it would be Alastar.

"I think so, lad. If he's still in the country, that is. Give me a couple of days, then come and see me. I'll know then," he said, standing up to see Max out.

Max stood and shook hands with the fat Irishman. "Danke, Alastar," he said, earnestly, before stepping back out into the night. Turning up his collar against the winter chill, he made his way back through the tents and caravans. He figured he would head back to his flat in London for a couple of days before talking to Alastar again.

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Two days after his trip up to Huntingdon, Max got a postcard in the mail. It was circus themed and had no return address, only a time and place and a single name. He packed an overnight bag just in case and headed for the train station. Hailing a taxi, he gave the driver the name of the meeting place and watched as the city flew by. Minutes later, the car pulled up outside a rather seedy-looking pub and the driver turned to Max, wanting his fare. Max paid him and got out.

_The Tooth And Claw._ Being a very logical man, Max didn't believe in coincidence and he had to chuckle at the name of the pub Alastar had sent him to. _Little Irish smartass,_ he thought as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Since it was late in the evening, the pub was fairly full, so Max decided to take a little stroll around and see if he could catch the scent of the other werewolf. Max walked around the perimeter before making his way to the bar. About halfway down the bar, it hit him. Discretely sniffing the air around him, he pinpointed the source.

He was an older man, probably close to sixty, and fairly short, but stocky. He had long black hair that fell past his shoulders and dark skin. His jeans were faded, and his black motorcycle boots had seen better days. The leather vest he wore over a long-sleeved t-shirt completed the picture and gave him an air of someone you didn't pick a fight with. Max saw him stiffen as he neared and turn around. Obviously his sense of smell was as good as Max's because his eyes immediately went to his with a look of recognition, even though they'd never met.

"Nahual?" Max asked, offering his hand.

The dark-skinned stranger nodded. "Kruger?" he asked.

Max confirmed this with a nod and they shook hands. "That table in the corner looks good, don't you think?" Max asked as he ordered a drink.

"Looks fine to me," said Nahual, heading over to it.

The two men took seats at the table in the corner as it had the best view of the pub. They could see the door, so they knew who was coming in and out and they could also see the bar so they could keep an eye on the patrons there.

"You spoke to Alastar?" Max asked, eyeing his companion. He had a long moustache, there were deep-set lines in the man's face and heavy bags under his eyes, but Max could tell that he could still hold his own. His dark eyes were calculating, but not in a menacing way, he just seemed to want to be aware of his surroundings. His hands were large and rough as though he'd done his fair share of manual labor in his time and his chest was broad.

"I did," Nahual said, nodding. "He didn't say much, though. I'm not really sure I know what we're doing here." As he spoke, Max placed his accent as Mexican.

"May I ask you a few questions before I explain why I wanted to meet?" Max asked, wanting to keep everything neutral for as long as possible. If this werewolf was sympathetic to Greyback's cause, Max didn't want him knowing too much about him.

Nahual sat back and spread his hands, indicating for Max to continue.

"Your accent sounds Mexican, am I right?" Max began.

"Yes, I was born in Oaxaca," Nahual replied.

"Are you involved with any packs here in England?"

"No. I've never been a pack wolf and I don't want to be," he said. "I make out okay by myself. Besides, all the pack wolves I've known have been very... militant."

"And that doesn't appeal to you?" Max pressed.

Nahual shook his head. "No, I'm not interested in forcing 'certain people'," he lowered his voice slightly, "into giving me things I didn't have before I was bitten. I could live without the nasty looks from people when they find out about me, but I can avoid that by keeping to myself or staying with _sympatico's _like Alastar."

Max sniffed the air carefully to make sure Nahual was telling the truth. When he was satisfied, he decided to make himself a little clearer. "Do you know anything about a man named Fenrir Greyback?" he asked.

The Mexican's eyes darkened. "Yes, I know about him. If you're trying to recruit me for his army, you're out of luck," he growled.

Max smiled and shook his head. "No, I'd like to recruit you for the resistance."

Nahual cocked his head. "Resistance? I don't know anything about a resistance."

"We're fairly small in number, but we exist," Max explained. "We need more people. Of _all_ kinds," he clarified. "Would you be willing to fight with us? There is a Dark force that is trying to take control and we're fighting against it."

Nahual was quiet for a while. "I don't know," he said finally. "I need to think about it."

"Of course," said Max. "But don't take too long."

The Mexican raised an eyebrow as if trying to decide whether or not that was a threat.

Max explained himself. "My information says that things are moving quickly. Before long you'll be forced to make a choice whether you want to or not. It would be better to know where you stand _before _that happens."

Nahual nodded slowly, then made to leave. The men left money on the table and walked out together. Nahual walked over to a motorbike and climbed on before turning to Max.

"How can I reach you?" he asked.

"Contact Alastar," Max said. "He knows how to get in touch with me. If you decide you want to know more about us, there is someone else you need to meet as well."

"You'll be hearing from me, one way or another," Nahual said. He started his bike and shook hands with Max, then took off.

Max hitched his bag over his shoulder and hailed a cab to take him back to the train station. There was no point sticking around Huntingdon. He would go back to London and wait for Alastar to get back to him. With the full moon a little less than a week away, he didn't expect to hear anything at least until after that, and he needed to get back to Jeannie for his Wolfsbane. He'd taken that day's dose before catching his train, but he'd need the rest of the week's potion.

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A week after his meeting at _The Tooth And Claw_, and two days after the full moon, Max got another postcard from Alastar. This one had a bit more information than the last one. It said that Nahual wanted to meet again and wanted to know if Max could set up a time and place. He immediately contacted Dumbledore through Jeannie and the headmaster said he could meet them the next evening and left the place up to Max. It was times like these that Max was jealous of the speed of magical travel. After some thought, he asked Jeannie to apparate him up to Huntingdon to see Alastar in person.

They got there just before lunch, and Max lead the way to Alastar's caravan. There were circus employees all around cleaning up from the previous night's show and setting things up for later. Jeannie smiled to herself as she felt a bit homesick winding her way through such familiar territory. It had been her whole life, after all, and there were times she sorely missed it.

Max knocked on the caravan's door and it opened almost immediately. Alastar didn't seem surprised to see Max there as he ushered them in. Max introduced Jeannie and assured the Irishman that anything he wanted to say could be said in front of her. Alastar nodded and handed Max a newspaper. It was the local paper from the day before and the headline made his blood run cold:

_'Four Children Mauled; Attack Blamed On Big Cat'_

Skimming through the article, Max discovered that on the night of the full moon, a large animal had broken into four different homes in the area and attacked four children. There were conflicting reports on what the animal looked like, but it was clearly a werewolf attack. The children hadn't been killed, just mauled, and it had Fenrir Greyback all over it.

"Nahual showed up here the mornin' after the moon, sayin' he'd made his decision," said Alastar. "Asked me to contact you, said he wanted to meet these people o' yours."

"Is he still in town?" Jeannie asked.

Alastar nodded. "He said he'd stick around until he heard from ye."

Max thought for a minute. He didn't want to meet up at the pub again; not only did he not want to risk being recognized from the other night, but someone who dressed like Albus Dumbledore (who was eccentric even for a wizard) was guaranteed to attract attention. He also didn't want to get a motel room for the same reason. They certainly couldn't meet at headquarters; that was for people who were known and trusted, nor could they meet at Jeannie's place. No, they needed somewhere fairly neutral, preferably wizarding, and discreet.

"There's always the Leaky Cauldron," Jeannie suggested, reading Max's thoughts.

"Yes," Max said slowly. He turned to Alastar. "Would he be willing to travel to London?"

"I think so. Give me a time and a place and I'll pass it on," he said, handing Max a notepad.

Max jotted down the Muggle street corner closest to the Leaky Cauldron. "I'll meet him here tomorrow evening at 7 pm. I'll have a friend with me," he said.

"I'll let him know," Alastar said, and the men shook hands. "It was lovely to meet you, lass," he added, kissing Jeannie's knuckles.

"Pleasure's all mine," she replied with a smile.

They took their leave and Jeannie apparated them back to London. Dumbledore stopped by Grimmauld that evening and Max filled him in on what details he had. Dumbledore agreed that the Leaky Cauldron was probably the safest location, and felt sure that Tom would be able to give them a private room for the meeting.

The next evening Max apparated with Dumbledore into the alley behind their meeting point and as they came around the corner, Max spotted Nahual's motorbike. The man himself was standing beside it, finishing a cigarette and looking around occasionally. Max pointed him out to Dumbledore and they made their way over to him. He and Max shook hands and Max introduced Albus.

The men headed into the Leaky Cauldron and Tom had a room waiting for them. Dumbledore ordered drinks and they got down to business. Albus explained more about the Order to Nahual, and the Mexican told them more of his story. He'd been a prize-fighter in Mexico, and fairly successful, before he was bitten. He'd been traveling late one night in the jungle and pulled over to get some sleep. A few hours later, he was awoken by growling and snarling. There was a large creature outside his car, trying desperately to find a way in.

Nahual had a gun in the car and shot the animal, thinking he'd killed it, but when he got out to see what it was, it attacked. He was bitten on the arm, but the animal died before it could kill him. He wrapped his arm up as best he could and drove himself to the nearest hospital. Being a Muggle hospital, they couldn't heal his arm, and brought in a 'specialist'. It was then that the severity of his injury was explained to him. Once his arm healed, he went back to fighting, but found that the bloodlust that came with his new condition made him uncomfortable, so he'd retired.

He was lucky, he said, because he'd had some money saved up and, since he was close to forty years old at the time, retirement was a plausible excuse for leaving the public eye. He'd been traveling ever since, living off his savings and supplementing that with day labour in the Muggle world. Since he wasn't a wizard, he had no need to interact with the magical world until it was time for the Wolfsbane. Life wasn't too hard for him, he said, because he knew how to go unnoticed. Albus then asked him why he wanted to join them.

"Since I got to England, I've heard things," he said. "I've heard about Greyback and his reputation, and it sounds like he's just as evil as people say. From what you and Kruger have told me, he's gathering followers and gaining strength. I was lucky - I was a man grown when I was bitten - but these children that he's targeting don't have a chance. It's not right. It needs to stop."

He continued, "I don't pretend to know much about magical affairs, but I've heard about an evil wizard lately. It sounds to me like he's wanting to use the werewolves as pawns in his game and I don't like that. I think it's time to choose sides, and I'm not going to let myself be used. By anyone," he added, pointedly.

Dumbledore was quiet for a while. Finally he said, "We would be glad to welcome you, Nahual. There is another werewolf in our ranks whom I would like you to meet. Perhaps you could come to our next meeting?" The man nodded. "If you decide to join us, we have an excellent potioneer who would be willing, I'm sure, to provide you with Wolfsbane for free."

"I'll have Max contact you with the details of our next meeting," he said, getting up. "Until then, it's been a pleasure meeting you." They shook hands.

Max and Nahual exchanged contact information so they wouldn't have to go through Alastar Conor anymore and the three men walked out of the pub together. Nahual went back to is bike and Dumbledore led Max back into the alley to disapparate unnoticed. When they got back to headquarters, Dumbledore asked Max to fill Remus in on the events of the evening, then floo'd back to the school. Max and Remus spoke for a while before Max decided it was time for him to head home. Nothing could be done until the next Order meeting anyway, but he did feel like he'd accomlished something.

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Author's Note: 'Nahual' is a classic Mexican werewolf legend. Different regions of Mexico have different versions, but the one from Oaxaca sounded the most like Ms. Rowling's descriptions, so that's the one I went with. Also, I know Max's story and Nahual's story about shooting the werewolf sound alike, but there was really no other way to make it seem realistic to me (or, as realistic as it's possible to be when one is talking about werewolves), so forgive me if there are too many parallels for you. When I described Nahual, I was thinking of Danny Trejo, if that helps.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	18. Jeannie's Birthday

Author's Note: I looked up the November 15 astrology chart for fun, and it basically told me that Jeannie is intelligent, strong, capable, and intuitive. I think it fits, so I'm making that her birthday. I know Max found her in October, but since nobody knew exactly when she'd been born, the circus decided to make her 'birthday' the day that they decided to keep her. After spending weeks trying to find her biological parents, the search was called off on November 15th, so that's her birthday. Also, Jeannie calls Ted and Andromeda 'mom' and 'pops' like she does Molly and Arthur. Since she grew up without parents, those names are more like earned titles rather than familial titles. I hope that makes sense. This chapter isn't quite as long as some others, but it was fun to write. I enjoy it and I think you will, too.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 18: Jeannie's Birthday

"We're here!" Tonks called as soon as she and Jeannie crossed the threshold.

"There's my girls!" a warm voice said from their left. Jeannie turned to find the slightly rotund form of Ted Tonks smiling at them from the doorway of the sitting room of the Tonks' house.

"Hey, pops," she said, coming in for a hug. Ted gathered her in his arms and held her close, showing her she was precious to him. He always gave the best hugs. That was the first thing Jeannie noticed about him the when she'd met Tonks' parents. She and Tonks had immediately hit it off on the train at the start of their fifth year, and they'd only gotten closer as the year went on, so when Tonks went home for Christmas, Jeannie had come as well and Ted and Andromeda had treated her as a member of the family ever since, which included celebrating her birthday.

"Happy birthday, sweetie," he said releasing her with a kiss on the head and reaching for his daughter. Tonks stumbled into her father's embrace and hugged him tightly 'round the middle. When she'd gotten her kiss on the head, she asked him where her mother was.

"Well, she was in the kitchen earlier," he said, leading them into the house. "I know this because she kicked me out of the kitchen right after breakfast."

"Oh, you poor thing," Jeannie snickered.

"My thoughts exactly!" Ted said, with a mock-serious face. "I didn't even get my mid-morning snack. I need sustenance!"

Tonks laughed. "I doubt you'll be dying of hunger anytime soon, dad," she said, poking him in the side as they entered the kitchen.

"You never know," he insisted. "It could cause my blood-sugar to plummet and send me into diabetic shock."

"Ted, please tell me you're not still whining about food," said Andromeda Tonks, standing at the counter and putting the finishing touches on a birthday cake.

"Of course not, dear," he said, going over to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "When have you ever known me to whine?"

Andromeda shook her head in a long-suffering way, then stepped out from under her husband's arm to come over and hug the girls. As she approached, Jeannie had a minor epiphany. Since she'd always known the older woman as a Tonks, it had been easy to forget that she had been born a Black. It wasn't easy anymore, though, as Jeannie immediately saw the family resemblance between Andromeda and Sirius. Andromeda had light-brown hair and her honey eyes were slightly wider than her cousin's, but the facial structure was almost identical. If she'd had black hair and silver eyes they might have passed for twins, despite the age difference.

When everyone had been hugged and fussed over, they sat down to lunch. Unlike her daughter, Andromeda had a flair for household spells and she was nearly as good a cook as Molly Weasley. With a flick of her wrist, the ham she'd made for Jeannie's birthday carved itself as they filled their plates and the conversation continued.

"'Dora, dear, how's work going?" Andromeda asked.

"Fine, mum," Tonks answered. "We've been really busy lately, that's why I haven't been able to come over. Been pulling a lot of double shifts."

"Sounds like they're over-working you, dear," her mother said, concerned.

"Nah, I got today off, didn't I? Even though it's Wednesday," Tonks said, dismissing her mother's worries.

"As long as you're still happy, sweetheart, that's all that matters," said Ted.

"I am, dad, I still love it," Tonks said.

"Has there been any news about... ?" Andromeda began carefully.

Ted laid a hand over his wife's. "Leave it be, 'Dromeda," he said gently.

Jeannie looked at Tonks to see what they were on about. Tonks looked a little uncomfortable and shook her head slightly, telling Jeannie not to speak.

"Last I heard, they were chasing a lead in Tibet, mum," she said, clearly wanting to close the subject.

_Tibet,_ Jeannie thought, _who's chasing what in Tibet?_ She threw a confused look at Tonks who looked back at her pointedly as if waiting for her to catch up. Then it dawned on her. Her eyes widened slightly, but Tonks gave her a warning look, so she quickly schooled her features. _Of course,_ she thought,_ Kingsley had been feeding the Auror department information that Sirius was hiding in Tibet._ But that meant that Sirius' favorite cousin still thought he was a murderer. Which meant that Dumbledore hadn't seen fit to tell Andromeda the truth. Even though it would probably mean a lot to Sirius to know that Andromeda was on his side.

Jeannie felt a strong resentment towards the headmaster flow through her. It was one thing to keep certain information from an emotional teenager, but it was something else to keep information from a potential ally. He'd seen fit to accept Tonks into the Order; what possible harm could there be with reuniting Sirius and Andromeda? Even if the older Tonks' didn't want to join the Order, Sirius and Andromeda had been very close as children and Jeannie could tell that it still hurt Andromeda to think that her favorite relative was a murderer.

Rolling her eyes at Dumbledore's high-handedness, Jeannie went back to her food as if nothing had happened. Soon the conversation picked up again, and she found herself telling the Tonks' all about her most recent tour. She and Tonks spent a good few hours at Tonks' parents house catching up. She hadn't seen them in a long time, and it felt good to be back with people she considered family.

"Well, we'd better get going," said Jeannie, after they'd stayed for tea. Molly had made them promise to come over to headquarters for supper and had insisted on baking Jeannie a cake as well. She said goodbye to Ted and Andromeda, enjoyed one more fantastic hug from Ted, and the two girls apparated back to Tonks' flat for some girl-time before heading over to Grimmauld.

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"Tonks, why are you wearing a tutu?" Sirius asked as she walked in to the sitting room of Number 12.

"Because it's pretty," she said, as if that should have been obvious. She'd found it at the very back of her closet earlier and had decided that it was a day for tutu's. Taking a seat on one of the sofas, she smiled at Remus in greeting.

"Okay, but why are you wearing a pretty tutu?" Sirius pressed.

Tonks huffed at his stupidity. "It's Jeannie's birthday and Molly is baking a cake. Technically that makes it a party. Tutu's are perfectly acceptable attire for parties," she explained.

Sirius looked over at Remus and shook his head, clearly baffled.

"Don't look at me," Remus said. "Tonks is a grown woman, she can wear a tutu if she wants."

"Yeah, if she were a ballerina, but wearing one over a pair of jeans and Wellies just makes no sense," Sirius said, clearly not having learned by now that trying to inject logic into his cousin's wardrobe was, by her own admission, a massive waste of time. After all, this was a girl who still wore socks with the name of the day on them just for fun. It was usually the wrong day, too.

"It's _pink_, Sirius" Tonks defended. "It matches my hair, therefore it makes _perfect_ sense!"

"It looks ridiculous!"

"That's what makes it awesome!"

"So you're trying to look ridiculous?"

"I'm trying to look pretty! What's wrong with looking pretty? Tutu's are pretty!"

Remus sighed and let his head fall back onto the back of the sofa. _Honestly,_ he thought, _why couldn't they be in a room with each other for more than five minutes without a pointless argument?_ He decided that it must be a Black family trait, because they were equally good at winding the other up over absolutely nothing. Case in point, the tutu. Yes, tutu's were fairly ridiculous, but the woman wearing it liked to wear her hair in short pink spikes so, in his opinion, the tutu did make a certain sense. There was no way he was actually going to say this out loud, however, as he didn't want the two cousins turning on him. He'd made that mistake before, thank you very much, and since he wanted this argument to end sometime today, he was content to keep his mouth shut.

Sirius, unfortunately, wasn't. "Moony, tell her I'm right," the animagus pleaded.

Remus clamped his mouth shut and shook his head which, apparently, made Tonks think she'd won.

"Ha!" she cried, pointing at Remus. "See? Remus can't find anything wrong with it, and he's smarter than you!"

"He's just too nice to say anything that might hurt your feelings," Sirius countered. "And who says he's smarter than me?!"

"Oh, so _you_ don't care about hurting my feelings? Everyone knows he's smarter than you - he was a professor!"

At this point Remus gave up. Putting down his book, since there was no possibilty whatsoever of getting back to it with those two in the room, he got up and went in search of Jeannie to wish her a happy birthday. He found her in the kitchen perched on the counter and talking to Molly. She was wearing tight black jeans, high-heeled black boots and a white sweater. He saw her black leather jacket draped over a chair and thought how happy Sirius would be when he saw that she'd worn her hair down as well. She looked up when he entered the room and smiled at him.

"Happy birthday, love," he said, giving her a friendly kiss on the cheek. While Remus had thoroughly enjoyed their little interlude two years ago, in all honesty, Jeannie was far too intense for him and he was perfectly happy to simply be her friend now.

"Thanks, Remus. Where are Tonks and Sirius?" she asked.

"In the sitting room, arguing over Tonks' tutu," he answered with a sigh.

"Tonks' what?" Molly asked.

"Tutu," said Remus. "Little pink frilly thing that looks a bit like a skirt. Ballerinas wear them."

"Oh," Molly shrugged, going back to her baking.

A few minutes later, Tonks came skipping into the kitchen with Sirius in tow. Remus looked at them warily, wondering if they'd left their argument in the other room. As usual, just before getting to where she wanted to be, Tonks tripped and crashed into the counter. Sirius laughed loudly at this and Tonks scowled at him.

Recovering quickly, she turned to Molly. "Do you like my tutu, Molly?" she asked, playing with the fabric. Remus groaned.

"I do, dear," Molly said fondly. "It's very pretty, matches your hair."

Remus couldn't help but laugh at the way Tonks' face lit up like she'd just won a major victory, then turned around and stuck her tongue out at her cousin. Sirius looked positively outraged, and opened his mouth to argue but Remus was quicker, flicking his wand and hitting Sirius with a sliencing charm. Sirius' expression turned from outraged to dangerous as he realized what happened, but Remus held up his hand.

"We'll let Jeannie decide this. Since it's her birthday, she shouldn't be subjected to stupid arguments unless she wants to be." He turned to her. "Do you want to be?"

"Not particularly," she answered - sensibly, in Remus' opinion.

Remus looked pointedly at Sirius, who glared mutinously back before sighing and nodding, silently indicating that it would be safe to remove the charm. Remus did so and Sirius immediately blew a massive raspberry at his cousin before sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest in a very child-like manner. Tonks probably would have reacted to this if Molly hadn't stopped cooking long enough to give them both a look.

"Molly, you know you don't have to cook for me," Jeannie said pointlessly, knowing that the mother-hen matriarch would do exactly as she pleased, but feeling like it should be said anyway.

"Oh, I know dear, but it's your birthday! After all, you only get to be twenty-two once," said Molly, not missing a beat.

_Twenty-two?, _Sirius thought, doing a little math in his head. He leaned over to Remus, who'd taken the chair next to him. "When did you and her happen? What month?" he asked quietly.

Remus thought for a minute. "Beginning of October, if I remember correctly. Why?"

A dirty grin spread across Sirius' face. "Because if that happened in October two years ago, that means she was just nineteen at the time," he muttered, laughter in his voice.

Remus' eyes widened in horror. He looked at Sirius, who was trying not to laugh out loud, then at Jeannie sitting on the counter. It was true that he hadn't really given any thought to her age at the time, but he had assumed that she was no longer a teenager. Jeannie caught his gaze and frowned at his expression.

"You okay?" she mouthed at him.

Remus blinked, then nodded jerkily, his eyes moving to the table. "Shut up, will you?" he hissed at Sirius, who was snorting amusedly.

"Sorry," Sirius said, quieting but not looking sorry. If anything, he was looking at Remus as if he was proud of him. Thankfully, Remus was spared having to respond by Max walking in. The giant German walked straight up to Jeannie, hooked one arm around her waist and the other under her knees and proceeded to swoop her up from the counter into his arms and toss her around like a rag-doll.

Sirius might have been concerned about this if it hadn't been for Jeannie's squeals of delight. Having never seen them perform together, it still looked a bit strange to him to see the way Jeannie and Max dealt with each other physically. It was not uncommon for Jeannie to sit on Max's knee even when there was a perfectly good chair available. It was fairly normal, too, to see Max pick Jeannie up bodily and move her if she was in his way. They stole food off each other's plates and drank out of the same glass. There was nothing sexual about the way they moved together, it was simply two people who were perfectly in tune to the other.

"Please be careful, Max," Molly pleaded, not quite comfortable with the whole scene.

Max grinned at her. "Sure, Molly," he said, tossing Jeannie over his shoulder, but letting her down gently (albeit upside down), mindful of the height difference between them. Sirius got a treat as her sweater rode up, temporarily displaying various ink patterns.

"Nice view," Sirius commented with a leer.

Jeannie made a face at him, which was all the more hilarious because she was doing a handstand at the time. Righting herself, she pulled her sweater down while raising an eyebrow at Sirius, who grinned back unapologetically. His expression changed, however, when he noticed Max also giving him a look. Just a side-long glance, but the meaning was unmistakeable. It had been a _very_ long time since he'd had to deal with a protective older brother, but he hadn't forgotten how to tread lightly - especially when said brother was built like a mountain. It made no difference that Max didn't carry a wand; he didn't need one to inflict damage.

"Molly, dear?" came Arthur's voice from the door.

"Here, Arthur," she answered. Arthur walked into the room and put his arms around his wife, giving her a loving kiss on the cheek. Molly blushed and shooed him away, so he turned to Jeannie. "Happy birthday, sweetie," he said, pulling her into a hug.

"Hi, pops. How was your day?" she asked.

"Pretty good, actually," he said, taking a seat. "I was finally able to track down the man who was selling fake flying carpets."

"Fake flying carpets?" Tonks repeated.

Arthur nodded. "Yes. They flew, alright, but they also tried to smother whoever was riding them. We had three people in St. Mungo's last month who swore that their rugs were murderous. Turns out there's a wizard in Dorset buying ordinary Muggle rugs and using rather shoddy charmwork to make them fly, then selling them cheap. Probably an associate of Mundungus' if you ask me. Seems like the sort of scheme old 'Dung would be a part of."

"So was this guy trying to kill people?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, I don't think so, just not very good at charms," Arthur answered.

"Alright, everyone," Molly broke in, guiding several floating dishes to the table. "Let's eat."

It was a relatively small gathering, but that was fine with Jeannie. With the exception of Charlie, who'd had to go back to Romania, she'd been able to spend time with all her non-circus family, and that's all that mattered. Bill and Fleur showed up in time for cake and Sirius had dug up a couple of bottles of elf-made wine for everyone. Growing up the way she had, Jeannie had learned early on how to appreciate the moments of calm and happiness, and with the massive changes in her life over the past few months, she couldn't help but relax completely - if only for an evening.

She and Max showed the group a couple of tricks that looked much more complicated and dangerous than they really were, and Sirius and Remus told a few stories from their school-days. It was late when Jeannie decided it was time for bed. Sirius offered her one of the guest bedrooms, but she wanted her own bed, so she said goodnight to everyone but Molly and Arthur, who'd left earlier seeing as Arthur had to be at work the next morning, and floo'd back to her place. She'd eaten more that day than she had in months and it caught up to her as she laid down. Pulling the covers over herself, she snapped her fingers to kill the lights and fell asleep almost instantly.

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Author's Note: For those of you who will need a break from family, I will be posting the next chapter on Christmas Day. I've had it written for a while now, and I can't wait to hear from you about it! That'll be my present to you.

Until then, Gypsyfurface


	19. A Helping Hand

Author's note: I've had this chapter written since before posting chapter 1, and it feels good to finally get to present it! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 19: A Helping Hand

Jeannie got to Grimmauld Place early. December was upon them, and she'd dressed accordingly. Flannel-lined jeans tucked into her (and Sirius') favorite motorcycle boots, paired with a heavy, over-sized purple sweater with a tank-top underneath. She'd brought her leather jacket, too, just in case she had to leave the warmth of the house. After giving the men plenty of time to get a good ogle, she dragged them upstairs with her so they could get to work.

She had gotten Sirius and Remus to agree to help her finish cleaning out the room she was using as a lab for the Wolfsbane and various healing potions that everyone agreed would be good to keep on hand, especially at headquarters. One never knew who was going to show up with some kind of injury or problem and, with tonight being the full moon, she knew Max and Remus would be showing up the next day with the usual bumps and bruises. She had taken over most of the brewing from Snape and the small space they had cleared out by shoving everything else to the side simply wasn't enough anymore. She needed to be able to use the whole room, not just one corner of it.

They got the room cleaned up fairly quickly, the only problem being Sirius' mood. He was sick of being cooped up in the house that he hated and still couldn't understand why Remus wouldn't let him accompany him for his transformations. The last time he'd been able to go to Jeannie's place was Halloween - a good six weeks ago - and it was getting to him. He spent the morning grumbling like a petulant child and by the time they broke for lunch, he was giving everyone the silent treatment, only grunting when absolutely necessary.

After lunch, Remus and Jeannie went back up to the lab for Remus' last dose of Wolfsbane.

Jeannie sighed and shook her head. "The last time I saw his temper like this was when Dumbledore said he was going to have Snape teach Harry Occlumency."

"I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a bit of shouting later, so just be aware of that if you decide to stick around today," Remus warned, knowing that Jeannie liked keeping Sirius company during 'that time of the month'.

"I am going to stay," she confirmed. "I don't want him alone when he's like this."

"You're choice, just remember what I said. Max is here," he added, cocking his head toward the door. Sure enough, moments later, a large blonde head peered around the door and smiled tiredly. Jeannie filled a goblet and held it out for him. He sighed and entered the room, taking the potion and downing it in three large gulps, then making a face as the taste hit him.

"I'm sorry! You know I can't do anything about the taste," she defended.

Max smiled at her. "I know," he said, then made to leave.

"Hey, you just got here!" Jeannie complained.

"And now I'm leaving," he said, planting a kiss on her cheek and heading for the door. "Thanks for the poison," and then he was gone. Remus laughed when she pouted.

"Really!" she huffed. "You'd think he only loved me for my potions."

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Jeannie was sitting in the kitchen when Sirius suddenly burst into the room muttering darkly about evil, useless house-elves. She had, of course, decided to stick around - if for nothing more than moral support. She would have liked to take him over to her place for a while, but since Remus was going to be indisposed that night, Sirius had to stay at headquarters in case something happened. So she'd stayed; something told her that he _needed _company even if he didn't _want_ it and from what she was hearing, it sounded to her like Kreacher had been caught stashing away family heirlooms again to prevent Sirius from throwing them out. She watched as Sirius opened a few cabinet doors and slammed them shut again before finding the one with his whiskey glasses.

"Damn Molly," he grumbled. "Always hiding my favorite drinking glass."

This caused Jeannie to chuckle and Sirius spun around in alarm, clearly unaware that there was anyone still in the house. He sighed in a mixture of relief and exasperation, then reached for another glass. "Feel free to have a drink," he said, setting one down in front of her, "but I'll warn you - I'm in a foul fucking mood and will be a really shitty host."

She watched him turn and leave the room, then decided to follow him. He stormed into the sitting room that held the liquor cabinet, opened a bottle of firewhiskey and poured himself a generous amount. Slamming the bottle down, he started pacing up and down the room. Jeannie entered the room calmly, went over to the liquor cabinet, poured herself a modest glass and put the bottle away. Then she turned around and hopped up to sit on top of the cabinet. She slowly sipped her whiskey while watching Sirius wear a path in the rug.

Sirius looked over at her and glared when he saw that the way she sat prevented him from opening the cabinet and getting another glass of booze. This didn't seem to phase her, though, as she quietly met his stare. He knew she was waiting for him to explode and he also knew that he was powerless to stop it. He'd been good; he hadn't allowed himself a good tantrum in weeks and it was time. He was wound tight as a spring and he knew that if he didn't do something about it, he would lose all control and do something there would be real consequences for.

Figuring that it was safest to lose his temper around Jeannie since she always seemed to be able to handle him, especially at his worst, he decided it would be okay to let go a little. He could feel his anger bubbling over anyway so, after finishing his drink, he threw the glass into the fireplace where it shattered into a million pieces and rounded on her.

"What's wrong, Sirius?" he mocked in a high pitched voice. "EVERYTHING! I hate this bloody house and that fucking house-elf - who, by the way, has always hated me - I hate being chained up! I hate Remus having to spend the full moons alone - " he paused for breath and resumed pacing. "I hate Dumbledore and not being able to tell Harry anything! I hate living down the hall from my mother, who didn't even have the decency to die without tormenting me! I hate that I haven't had a shag since 1981! I HATE MY LIFE!" he finished in a mighty shout.

He stopped pacing in front of the writing desk on the opposite side of the room from Jeannie. Bracing his arms on the desk, he leaned wearily on it with his back to her and took several deep breaths. Hanging his head, he spoke again, his voice hoarse.

"I try, Jeannie. I really do - but there's _nothing_ for me here. I loathe every inch of this place and everything in it. I swore when I was sixteen that I'd never set foot in here again and sometimes I wonder why I bothered breaking out of Azkaban." His body sagged against the desk as though his outburst had sapped the last of his strength. She could almost feel the pain he was in.

This was what Remus had warned her about. Perhaps all the time he spent with Remus on the full moon in dog form when they were younger had given him a sixth sense. Perhaps he was feeling the moon as well as Remus and Max - just to a lesser degree. She made a decision. She couldn't do anything about his living situation - even when he could escape to her place for a while, he still had to come back here eventually - but she could give him the kind of comfort only a woman could provide. It was something she'd been thinking about since he'd opened up to her the morning after Halloween, and something she knew would be good for both of them.

"Sirius," she said quietly, after a minute of silence.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "All you ever see is the worst of me. I hate that, too."

"Sirius," she repeated.

Sirius sighed heavily and turned around. He kept his head down, looking up at her through his long, black hair. It was almost as if he was waiting for her to yell at him or hex him for his moment of weakness. She smiled softly and crooked her finger at him.

"Come here," she said. His brow furrowed in confusion, but he moved toward her, stopping about halfway and looking unsure of himself.

She beckoned him again. "Come here."

He looked at her for a moment, then moved to stand directly in front of her. He kept his head down and didn't meet her eye. When she reached up and gently cupped his stubbled cheek, however, his eyes snapped to hers. Dark brown met steel grey as she looked at him tenderly and he melted into her touch.

"I don't just see the worst of you, Sirius, I see the good too. And I like what I see." Jeannie ran the back of her knuckles down his cheek, softly stroking. "I can't do anything about a lot of things, but I can help with one problem," she said, tracing his jaw line.

His look of confusion returned before he realized what he'd said earlier. He removed her hand from his cheek and shook his head. "Jeannie, I wasn't suggesting anything- "

"I know," she cut him off. "Just trust me for a minute. We can stop whenever you need to." He shook his head again, wanting to argue, but Jeannie put a finger to his lips to silence him. "Shhh," she said, tracing his lips with her finger. "I'm going to kiss you, Sirius" she told him.

His eyes fluttered closed as she leaned in. Pressing her lips ever so softly against his, she slid one hand around the back of his neck to hold him to her. He was shaking, so he braced his hands on either side of her legs and leaned into her kiss. Her lips were soft and he couldn't stop himself from responding. Jeannie licked at his bottom lip until he opened up to her. When he did, she slid her tongue inside his mouth to stroke his. Sirius let out a pained whine and instinct took over. It had been _so long_ since he'd been kissed, he wasn't even sure if he was doing it right, but Jeannie was making all the right noises, so he let it go. He regained his senses only when she began unbuttoning his shirt. He pulled back slightly, but she wasn't having that.

"Shhh," she soothed again, catching his lip between her teeth and nibbling gently, making him moan and shudder.

Whenever Jeannie was around, Sirius stayed in various states of arousal. He didn't know if it was just because it had been longer than he cared to admit since he'd had a woman or if there was something about her specifically, but Jeannie Jones did it for him and, at that moment, he was painfully hard. Standing there, his hips cradled between her legs as she sat on his liquor cabinet, he unconsciously began to rub against her as they snogged like teenagers. He didn't even realize it until she moaned into his mouth and tightened her thighs around him. Again he tried to pull back and again she prevented it.

"Easy, baby," she said, as she got the last button on his shirt undone. He leaned his forehead against hers, panting heavily, as she began a slow exploration of his chest. He moaned and writhed as she touched him, tracing his scars, his tattoos, his battle wounds. "I love the sounds you make, baby" she told him, running her hands all over his chest and stomach, then around to caress his back, feeling the muscles tense and relax. "I love that _I'm_ the one doing this to you." Sirius didn't answer - he couldn't form words at the moment, but Jeannie knew that he needed to hear these things.

Sirius was thin - too thin - but his muscle structure was to die for. The athlete in Jeannie told her that if she could get him to train with her just a bit, then he'd fill out again. It wasn't lack of food making him skinny, it was lack of physical activity. That was something she _could_ help with. She had no problem imagining what he'd looked like when he was younger. No wonder he'd had so much female attention. There was something raw about his masculinity. Sirius brought her back to the present with another whine and, instead of removing his shirt completely as he expected her to, she went for his jeans. This time he did stop her.

"No," he said, grabbing her wrists. "Jeannie, I - it's been so, so long. I won't last, I -"

"Sirius," she said, speaking as if trying to calm a skittish animal (which wasn't far from the truth at the moment). "I don't want you to last. I want to make you feel good." Taking his hands in hers, she guided them back to where they'd been on either side of her thighs. "Please?" she added, kissing him once more.

She wanted to do this for him, badly, but she waited until he looked her in the eye and nodded. She grinned at him and went back to work undoing his jeans. Sirius' eyes slammed shut and he swallowed hard as he heard the zipper go down. Jeannie nuzzled his neck as his head dropped to her shoulder and ran her fingers through his treasure trail, making him whine again, then shoved his jeans down just enough to free him. Sirius exhaled sharply as his cock sprang free and bobbed in the air. His hands clenched into fists as he looked at her, pleading silently for her to do something - anything.

"Don't worry, baby," she cooed huskily, "I'll take care of you."

She ran her hand down his chest one more time, enjoying the way his whole body trembled at her touch, then finally wrapped her fingers around his shaft. She didn't even get one good stroke in, however, before his knees gave out. Sirius collapsed on the floor in front of her, panting and whining, and raised his head to give her that pleading look again. She took pity on him, sliding sensually off the liquor cabinet with Sirius watching her every move, and landed on her knees in front of him.

Spitting onto her palm, Jeannie wrapped her hand around him again, earning a deep groan, and began working him. Sirius started mumbling a mix of pleas and curses which eventually became nearly sobs of pleasure. It had been far too long since someone had touched him like this. During the several wanks he'd had since she came into his life, he'd always imagined her hands in place of his own, but he now knew that his fantasies paled in comparison to the real thing. She pumped him steadily, and when he looked as though he was about to slump forward, she fisted a hand in his hair and yanked his head back roughly.

"Oh, fuck!" Sirius yelled, the slight pain being the only thing keeping him from passing out from the pleasure. "So close, so close," he repeated over and over.

Jeannie raised herself a little higher on her knees and licked his exposed neck once. He writhed and sobbed, so she decided to give him what she'd promised. Picking a nice spot on his neck, she poised her mouth over it. Then she simultaneously yanked his head back farther, gave a rough tug on his cock, and bit down harshly on the sensitive skin.

Sirius damn near screamed as he came - his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his cock twitched in her hand, his release shooting out and coating his stomach and her shirt. He grabbed the back of her head to keep her at his neck and braced the other hand behind him to keep from falling over as his hips bucked violently. Finally, it was too much, and he did fall over, pulling Jeannie on top of him. She readjusted herself so that she was straddling him with his cock trapped between their bodies. Planting her hands just above his shoulders, she arched her body to rub against his sensually and kissed him passionately. Sirius' heart was still racing and his mind still foggy as he threaded one hand into her hair and the other traveled down her back to squeeze her arse, pressing her even tighter against him.

Breaking the kiss, she looked down at him and grinned. He smiled back stupidly and she couldn't help but laugh. Kissing him once more, she sat up - still on his lap - and snapped her fingers to clean up the mess wordlessly and wandlessly. Sirius raised his eyebrows. His witch was full of surprises today.

"Am I going to be allowed to repay the favor?" he asked, running his hands up and down her denim-clad thighs.

She smiled. "No, not right now," she said, reaching up and tracing a tattoo.

"Why not?" The last thing Sirius wanted was to take advantage of her.

"Because this was about you, not me."

"Jeannie - "

"Sirius," she said, cutting him off. "You're not taking advantage of me. I wouldn't allow that. This has nothing to do with pity, I just _really_ wanted to do that and now seemed to be a good time. You enjoyed it, didn't you?"

"Very much, but - "

"No. No 'buts'. You enjoyed it, I enjoyed it. Good enough for me. You'll get your chance, don't worry."

Sirius opened his mouth to argue, but at that moment they heard someone come through the floo connection in the kitchen. They looked at each other wide-eyed like teenagers caught in a broom closet, then Jeannie leapt up and brought Sirius with her. He hurriedly tucked himself back into his jeans and did up the buttons on his shirt while Jeannie ran a hand through her hair to tame it.

"Sirius?" they heard Molly call from the kitchen.

"Coming Molly!" he shouted back, but before he could make it out of the room, Jeannie grabbed the front of his shirt and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Next time I'll suck your brains out through you cock," she hissed heatedly, nipping his jaw sharply, then pulled back grinning and left to find Molly.

Sirius growled and followed, shaking his head. What had he just gotten himself into?

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Author's note: Perhaps it's just my fantasy, but I always pictured Sirius as the 'rough-and-tumble' type who wouldn't mind a bit of biting and hair pulling. Was it evil of me to not warn you? ;) Let me know what you like and what you don't! Reviews are love!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	20. Jeannie's First Assignment

Author's Note: Hey everybody! I hope you all had a lovely holiday! Did you all like the last chapter? I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you had a lot of fun reading it. Have to admit, though, I'm a little surprised I didn't get more feedback, but I suppose you all were busy with family. Totally cool, but if you missed the last chapter, go back and read it and tell me how you feel ;)

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 20: Jeannie's First Assignment

Bad luck. That was all Sirius had the rest of the night. When he and Jeannie made it to the kitchen to greet Molly, the Weasley mother announced that she'd decided to make supper at headquarters that night, and proceeded to tell them all about her day. Sirius sat through it patiently, figuring that when she and Arthur left he would get some more alone-time with Jeannie. He was wrong.

Molly was followed by Kingsley, who stayed much longer than he said he would on account of dessert. Kingsley was followed by Arthur, who was late getting off because of some emergency involving a Muggle kitchen appliance in Kent that was attacking it's owner, and Arthur was followed by Mad-Eye, who not only stayed for drinks after supper, but insisted on regaling them with tales of his Auror days.

" - so I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and threw him in a holding cell. Let him stew for a couple of days," Moody nodded, apparently approving of his own actions. "He was ready to talk when we let him out."

Sirius grunted in reply, which seemed to satisfy the old Auror, and glanced at the clock. It read 1:30 am. He looked over at Jeannie who was clearly asleep on the sofa. _Well, damn,_ he thought. Sirius finally had a woman within reach and the fates were conspiring against him. He certainly wasn't going to wake her up simply because he was horny. He wasn't that desperate. Well, he _was_, but he wasn't that big of an arsehole. If he could only get Moody out of the house, he could go to bed and take care of things himself. His own hand was nowhere near as satisfying as hers (as he now knew), but it did the job and it would tide him over.

"I'm sorry, Alastor, but I've got to go to bed," he said with an exaggerated yawn.

Moody grunted. "Of course you do, lad," he said. "I didn't mean to keep you up all night. Sometimes when I start talking about the old days, I lose track of the time."

"That's alright," Sirius grinned. "You know you can take one of the spare bedrooms if you want."

"Nah, I'll go home," Moody said, getting up slowly and reaching for his walking stick. "Throw a blanket over her, will you, lad?" He gestured to Jeannie.

"Yeah. Goodnight, Alastor."

"'Night, lad." Mad-Eye walked out of the room and Sirius heard the front door open and close a few moments later. The floo network was Moody's latest paranoia; he preferred to apparate on and off of the front step of Grimmauld. Sirius sighed and grabbed the blanket off the back of Jeannie's sofa. Enlarging it and making it heavier so it would keep out the draft of the old house, he covered Jeannie up. She looked comfortable, so he didn't see any reason to move her up to one of the empty bedrooms and he didn't think it would be a good idea to put her in his bed, as much as he liked the thought. He tucked the blanket in around her feet and went to bed.

The next morning Jeannie was awoken by the floo. She rolled over and opened her eyes to see an exhausted looking Remus step out of the fireplace and she jumped up to help him. He seemed surprised to see her there, but wasn't quite ready for talking yet, so she helped him up to his room and put him to bed, knowing what he needed most right now was rest. She wasn't worried about Max; he transformed in his flat so that when the sun rose, his bed was right there.

Closing Remus' door, Jeannie headed down to the kitchen to find Molly there again. She had a huge pot on the stove and it smelled like the start of chicken soup. She'd made coffee as well, for which Jeannie was grateful. Greeting the older woman, she poured herself a cup and sat down to enjoy it.

"Did you spend the night here, dear?" Molly asked, eyeing Jeannie's clothes, which were the same she'd worn the day before.

Jeannie yawned and nodded. "Mad-Eye decided to tell Sirius and I a bed-time story. Or ten. I fell asleep on the couch after number four, I think."

"Someone say my name?" Sirius asked from the doorway.

"Good morning, Sirius," Molly greeted.

"Morning, Molly," Sirius replied, heading for coffee. "Chicken soup?" he asked, nodding to the pot.

"Yes. There's a meeting tonight and Remus will need his strength. Jeannie, there'll be enough for Max, too, if he wants to come over here," she offered.

"Oh, Max is fine," Jeannie said. "He stocks up on food before the moon so he doesn't have to leave the flat until he's rested. Thanks, though."

Molly nodded and went back to her cooking. Sirius got his coffee and came to sit next to Jeannie, winking at her when Molly wasn't looking. Jeannie smiled at him and nudged his foot with hers. Sirius smirked at her and let his eyes travel up and down her body slowly, his gaze heating up. Jeannie rolled her eyes at him. Finishing her coffee, she stood up and announced that she was going to head home for a while. Having left her wand in the sitting room, she headed back there, figuring she'd use that fireplace to floo back.

Sirius waited a few moments before making his move. "I'll be right back, Molly," he said. "I forgot I wanted to talk to Jeannie about something." Standing up, he made his way to the sitting room as well. Just in time, too, because Jeannie was reaching for the floo powder.

Sirius came up behind her silently. Grabbing her arm, he spun her around and pushed her up against the wall next to the fireplace. With a growl, he pressed himself against her and claimed her mouth, forcing her lips apart and delving inside. He groaned at tasting her again and brought a hand up to her hair, threading his fingers through the long tresses. Jeannie moaned and slipped her hands under his shirt, raking her nails across the sensitive skin of his sides.

"Fuck, Jeannie..." Sirius hissed, breaking away from her mouth and pushing his hips against hers.

Jeannie chuckled quietly. "Calm down, Sirius," she said. "I really do need to go home for a while."

Sirius growled again. "What for?"

"A shower, for one thing."

"Wrong. I love the way you smell," he replied, running his nose along her neck.

She let him continue for a moment (it did feel good), but pushed him away slightly when Molly's voice floated into the room. Bringing his face back to hers, she kissed him passionately once more, then pushed him away again gently, but firmly.

"I'll be back, I promise. We have a meeting tonight, remember?" she said.

"I can't touch you during the meeting," Sirius countered, pouting.

"No, but you can touch me after the meeting... " she said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Ahhh... " he said, his face lighting up instantly. "Promise? Please?"

"I promise."

Sirius backed off just enough to let her slip away, smacking her arse as she did so. She gave a yelp and turned back to him with a reproachful look on her face, but her eyes told the truth. They were darker than normal and Sirius knew that she'd liked it. Storing that information away for later, he turned away, putting his hands in his pockets and whistling absently as he headed back to the kitchen.

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"Arsehole," Jeannie said under her breath as he walked off. Grabbing the floo powder she'd reached for a good five minutes ago, she stepped into the fire, coming out of her own fireplace on the other side. Brushing off the soot, she headed upstairs to change her clothes. Jeannie knew that if she didn't at least try to work out a bit, she'd be feeling it later and she didn't want to be any more sore than she already was from spending the night on the couch.

After working out just enough to get the kinks out, she went for a shower. Standing under the hot spray, she ran her hands down her body, picturing the way Sirius responded to her the day before. Reality was far better than fantasy, she decided, as her mind replayed every moan, every twitch... she wondered briefly if she should have let him carry on before she left, but thought better of it. She really didn't want to get caught by Molly, of all people, fooling around with Sirius in the sitting room.

Her fingers ghosted over her breasts, tweaking her nipples, then she braced one hand against the shower wall as the other traveled south. It didn't take long. Jeannie's body had been primed since the day before and within a minute of teasing her swollen nub, she was struggling to stand as her legs wobbled and her muscles clenched around nothing. _It would have to do for now,_ she thought, cutting off the water and reaching for her towel.

Jeannie dressed and made herself lunch. Sitting down at her small table to eat, she was just preparing to take a bite of her sandwich when she heard a scratching at her window. She got up and opened the window, allowing a very regal-looking owl to enter. The bird swooped down and landed on her counter and offered her it's leg. She untied the envelope and thanked the bird, who hooted in reply and flew back out the window. It was very expensive-looking envelope with a family crest on it, but Jeannie didn't know enough about the pureblood families to be able to recognize it. She went back to her food and opened the envelope, pausing in mid-bite as she read the words on the parchment.

_ Well,_ she thought,_ this should be interesting..._

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The Order meeting that evening was an interesting affair. Max had brought Nahual to meet everyone, and since the full moon had been the previous night, there were currently three werewolves sitting in the corner clearly trying not to fall asleep. Everyone was happy to have another werewolf on their side, even if he wasn't a wizard. Moody, Kinglsey and Tonks were taking turns guarding the prophecy and Mundungus was keeping his ear to the ground in the seedier areas of the wizarding world, listening in on whatever conversations people were stupid or arrogant enough to have in public. He hadn't overheard anything really important, but he still gave his report with the air of a man who was continually in the danger zone. Jeannie had to bite her tongue on numerous occasions during his oration.

Unusually, Snape and Minerva had been able to come as well. Since Umbridge had begun taking over the school, it was rare that two well-known Dumbledore defenders had been let out of her sight at the same time, but they were unwilling to look a gift horse in the mouth. Minerva was particulary sore about the fact that not only Harry, but the Weasley twins as well, had been banned for life from the Quidditch team for fighting with the Malfoy's son. Snape didn't have much news except that, from what Hagrid told them when he'd returned recently, it seemed that recruiting the giants was a bit of a lost cause. According to Snape, the giants had sided with Voldemort before and seemed to be perfectly willing to do so again.

"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore, after the potions master finished speaking. "Now, does anyone else have news?"

"I do," Jeannie spoke up, pulling out the envelope she'd recieved earlier and passing it to Albus. "This came to me today. It's an invitation to the Malfoy's Christmas party."

There was silence in the room as this was processed. Even Snape looked surprised, though he quickly schooled his features.

"Absolutely not," said Sirius, breaking the silence. Dumbledore looked at him as though waiting for him to explain his position. "Albus, you can't really want her to do this, can you? Talk about sending her into the snake pit!"

"Does Lucius know about Jeannie being in the Order?" Dumbledore asked Severus.

"Not to my knowledge," Snape drawled. "Unless, of course, she has been careless somehow."

Jeannie rolled her eyes. She knew about Snape's spy work, and had a lot of respect for him and for what he was doing, but she thought it was a bit rich of him to assume that she would do anything to jeopardize the Order. It's not like she had any indication that anyone would be watching her movements anyway as she had no public connection to anyone here but Tonks - and that's just people who might remember them from school.

"It may be a bad idea for her _not_ to go," Dumbledore said, thinking.

"What on Earth does that mean?" Sirius asked, incredulously. "How could it be bad for her _not_ to go?"

"As you well know, Sirius, the Malfoy's view their Christmas party - _all_ of their parties, actually - as an excuse to rub elbows with the rich, powerful and famous. Jeannie going to this party presents certain dangers, surely, but _not_ going would be the equivalent of her publicly distancing herself from them and that could be taken badly."

"I'm not following you, Albus," Sirius said with a forced calm.

"Look at it this way, Sirius," Albus said. "If Jeannie goes to the Malfoy's Christmas party, it may maintain the status quo for her for a little longer. We are not officially at war and with the Ministry denying the truth and vilifying me and everyone associated with me, the longer Jeannie stays out of this - at least publicly - the better. If she does not go, it would almost certainly raise questions about where her loyalties lie and, to be frank, we don't need the publicity that would bring."

Sirius was quiet for a while. "I'm not okay with this," he said finally, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

"It might be a good idea to ask the person in question if _she_ is okay with this," Jeannie said to the room at large, earning a snort from Max, who could tell that her temper was starting to rise. She was not the type of girl to like having decisions made for her, especially when she was in the room.

"Of course, Jeannie," said Dumbledore. "My apologies. It is my opinion that it would be better for you to attend this party rather than sit it out. If that is agreeable to you, that is."

"It is my opinion that you should say you're going to go, then fake the flu," Sirius said in a testy tone. Jeannie narrowed her eyes at him in warning. If he still wanted to touch her after the meeting, he'd better behave himself and not act like a possessive jackass. She was a highly capable witch, after all.

Jeannie took a few minutes to think about it and came to the conclusion that Albus was right. If she didn't go, certain people would start wondering why, and since she still held some celebrity status (the invitation itself was proof of that), she still had to be careful what she did and didn't do. She would have to be on her guard at all times, as even Snape wasn't sure who would be there, but this needed to be done.

"Alright," she said. "I'll do it." Choosing to ignore Sirius' frustrated exhale, she listened to Dumbledore's instructions and made plans to meet with both him and Severus before the party to go over the various 'contingency plans'.

In all honesty, though, Jeannie was more worried about fitting in and not bringing any more attention to herself rather than having a solid escape plan, should the need arise. She didn't know anything about purebloods or their customs and, unlike most wizards in Britain, could not recognize one on sight. She'd never been raised in any kind of class system and when she'd transferred to Hogwarts and moved to England somewhat permanently, it hadn't been important to her or any of her friends. It was something Jeannie had simply not paid any attention to.

When they'd made all the preparations they could for the time being, the Order began to disperse. Nahual left through the front door because he had very little experience with magical travel. Max had finally gotten his flat connected to the floo network, so he left by fire. Remus went straight up to bed since, like the other two werewolves, he was still exhausted, and Minerva, Severus and Albus went straight back to the school as they're absence would surely be questioned soon, if it hadn't been already.

Jeannie said goodnight to Molly and Arthur as they headed back to the Burrow and when they'd gotten their hugs and gone, she turned around to find herself alone with Sirius. Apparently 'Dung had slipped out when she wasn't looking, which was perfectly fine with her. Sirius was still sitting in his chair at the head of the table, staring a hole in it. Jeannie leaned on the table and propped herself up on her elbows, waiting for him to speak.

"I'm not okay with this," he said again, looking up at her. There was genuine worry in his face, and she felt her annoyance with him melt away.

She smiled slightly. "I know. But you're going to help me, aren't you?"

"Help how?" he asked, looking confused.

"Help me learn about purebloods, of course. I don't know anything about your - _their_ - kind," she corrected herself, knowing Sirius didn't like being compared to or associated with his relatives.

"I don't understand. It's just a Christmas party, it's not like you're trying to infiltrate their ranks or something."

"Maybe not, but I still need to know who and what I'm dealing with and who better to teach me than you? You know all those people and I need to be able to recognize them, don't you think?" she asked.

Sirius thought for a minute. "Okay. I'll tell you what I know - what I can remember."

"Thank you," she said, moving from her place on the table and settling herself on his lap. He looked surprised. "You haven't forgotten that I made you a promise earlier, have you?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"No, I haven't forgotten," he replied, his hands finding her waist. "I just didn't think you'd be interested after the way the meeting ended."

"Oh, I think it's just what I need. Stress relief," she said, speaking close to his ear, her breath hot on his neck. She felt him growl deep in his chest and his hands tightened on her waist.

"Come on," he said, standing them both up and grabbing her hand. "Let's go relieve some of that stress."

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Author's Note: Cliffhanger... Don't worry, I won't cheat you out of Sirius returning the favor. That chapter will be up as soon as I have it finished, I swear ;) I'm so grateful to those of you who have fav/followed my story and I would really love to hear from you! Reviews are so important, especially for first-time author's like me, so take just a second and let me know how you feel. Are you liking Jeannie and my other OC's? Do you like the flow of the story? A single word is helpful, so hit the little button at the bottom of the page and leave me some love :)

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	21. Please May I

Author's Note: This chapter has lots of smut in it, but I'm not going to apologize for that, because dark times are coming soon and there's not much love to be found. In the words of Janis Joplin, 'Get It While You Can'.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling. I also don't own Janis Joplin or her songs :)

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Chapter 21: Please May I

Jeannie couldn't help but laugh as she was dragged out of the kitchen by Sirius but, instead of heading up the stairs as she expected, he pulled her down the hall and into the sitting room. Pulling out his wand, Sirius closed both doors and locked them, then cast a silencing charm on the room. He gently guided Jeannie over to the coffee table and put his hands on her shoulders, pushing slightly to make her sit down on the edge. Thanking the powers that be that she'd decided to wear a skirt, he knelt before her.

"I'm finding myself suddenly very fond of this room," he explained, since she was looking slightly confused at his choice of venue. "And I already know you have no objections..."

Jeannie smirked at him. Running a hand through his hair, she pulled him towards her, kissing him soundly. Sirius responded immediately, deepening the kiss and running his hands up her legs - starting at her feet and moving steadily over her knees and up to her hips, taking her skirt with him and parting her legs. She'd worn thigh-high socks underneath to keep her legs warm, and Sirius hooked his fingers under the elastic holding them up and pulled them down to her calves to expose more of her to him. Her skin felt like the finest silk and he wondered how he'd lived these many months without feeling her.

Breaking the kiss, he pulled back just a bit in order to look at her. Jeannie's lips were slightly swollen and her dark eyes were beginning to smolder. Sirius pulled at the hem of her sweater, and she got the hint, crossing her arms in front of her and ridding herself of her top. A whimper left Sirius' throat as her torso came into view. Jeannie's lips curled into a seductive smile as she reached around herself to unhook her bra. Letting the purple lace straps slide down her arms, she rid herself of that as well.

"_Fuck,_ baby, " Sirius whined, bringing his hands up to cup her mounds. Her breasts were small and barely filled his hands, but he really couldn't care less about size at the moment. They were in _front_ of him and he was allowed to _play_ with them. He kneaded the soft flesh and flicked her nipples with his thumbs, eliciting pleased sounds from her. It wasn't enough, though, so he leaned in and took one in his mouth, suckling her like a man starved. He laved each small mound with his tongue and pulled on each nipple with his teeth, enjoying the way her fingernails scraped his scalp. She could have drawn blood for all he cared; he had a mouthful of tit to compensate.

When he'd gotten his fill (at least for now), he took a moment to trace the tattoo under her left breast. It was a red rose on a long stem, complete with thorns, that followed the curve of her breast. Wrapped around the stem was a ribbon that read _'Handle With Care'_. Something stirred within him, then, because it was the very first time he'd ever had any indication of insecurity from her. Jeannie was the rock, the stabilizing force. She was Gibraltar... but here was tangible proof that even she could feel unsure sometimes. Ofter enough, apparently, to have her body marked permanently with the evidence. One day, he thought, he would handle with the care she deserved, but he truly didn't have the patience just then. His eyes flicked back to hers.

"I want to taste you," he whispered heatedly. "Please may I taste you?"

Jeannie nodded and lay back on the table to allow him access. Sirius pushed her skirt up around her hips and hooked his fingers under her purple lace knickers that matched her bra. He took a steadying breath and pulled them down. Jeannie closed her legs and lifted her hips to assist him. He drew the knickers off her slowly and slipped them into his pocket.

Sirius kissed both knees and eased her legs apart again, revealing his prize. His eyes flashed and his nostrils flared as her scent hit him. How long had it been since he'd smelled a woman's arousal? Too damn long. She was bare except for a thick tuft of brown curls at the top of her pussy. Sirius ran his hands over her thighs, parting her legs even more, and used his thumbs to massage her outer lips. So soft, pink, pretty... _perfect._

"You smell delicious," he told her, his eyes flicking up to hers as she propped herself up on her elbows to watch him. Ducking suddenly, he took a long swipe with his tongue. "Mmm," he moaned. "And you taste like heaven." He had another taste. "I had to take care of myself last night, you know?"

"Poor puppy," she said, her voice turning husky.

"Mmm-hmm," he agreed with a surprisingly convincing pout. "It was bloody awful."

Her breathy laughter turned into a moan as he went back to work. Leaving wet kisses along each thigh, he worked his way back to her heat and began stroking her with his tongue. Jeannie laid back completely and let him take over. He kissed and licked and nibbled the soft, sensitive flesh until the lips of her pussy were warm and wet and swollen, then went to work on her clit. Using his long-dormant (but never forgotten) skill, Sirius soon had her moving her hips against his face, seeking more of the delicious friction.

Breaking away from her briefly, he brought one hand down and slicked a finger, then eased it into her while resuming his previous task. She immediately tightened around the intruding digit and moaned "More...", so he gave her another finger. Pumping them in and out of her tight, hot snatch, he soon began to feel her tremble. He kept up the rhythm of his tongue on her clit and when he believed she was just about to break, he stopped, earning a frustrated groan from her.

"Just making sure I was doing it right," he said, cocking an innocent eyebrow at her when she raised her head to glare at him.

"_Ugh,_ fucker," she rasped, grabbing the back of his head and pushing his face back into her cunt.

Sirius chuckled, but took pity on her, getting back to the business at hand. He worked her up again, and when she got close this time, he let her fall into the abyss. Wrapping his free arm over her hips to prevent her bucking off the table, he sucked her clit into his mouth and flicked his tongue against it rapidly while he pounded her with his fingers. She came spectacularly, her thighs clamped down on his head as her inner muscles clamped down on his hand. He moaned against her as he pictured what it would feel like to have her clenching around his cock instead.

Her moans of ecstasy echoed off the walls of the room and were music to his ears, the sound ringing through him and making his hair stand on end. Finally, she came down from her high and he helped, licking her gently and easing his fingers out of her. She propped herself up on her elbows again, and Sirius thought that he'd never seen anything so erotic. Jeannie's face was flushed and her hair slightly mussed. Her eyes were heavy-lidded and her chest heaved with irregular breathing. Her skirt was still bunched up around her waist and her legs were still spread wantonly as she laid on his coffee table.

Sirius raised his fingers to his mouth to clean them of her juices, but she stopped him. Grabbing his wrist, she leaned forward and brought his hand to her mouth, closing her lips around one finger and sucking her own essence off it. Swirling her tongue around the digit, she kept her eyes on his, wanting to see the effect she had on him. Once that finger was clean, she moved onto the other, giving it the same treatment.

"Have you forgotten my other promise?" she asked him, when she'd finished with the second finger.

"Promise?" he rasped, his voice only barely recognizable as human.

Jeannie nodded slowly. "Yes, I seem to remember telling you that next time we found ourselves like this, I'd suck your brains out through that beautiful cock of yours."

Sirius's breathing hitched and his lips curled into a snarl as that picture floated into his head. Blinking his eyes rapidly, he tried to hold onto his sanity. "Are you sure?" he croaked, while his brain chanted _'please, please, please, please, please'_...

"Positive," she replied. "Stand up."

So he did. Jeannie sat up straight on the coffee table which, by a stroke of luck, brought her face to just the right height for this activity. She didn't reach for him, though.

"Undo your jeans," she said.

_Ahh,_ Sirius thought,_ I know this game._ He smirked slightly as he obeyed. Sirius loved games, especially when they involved nudity. He could still remember the first time a girl had taken over and ordered him about, and how much pleasure they'd both gotten out of it. He wasn't above giving orders, either, and he could be quite creative when he wanted to be. Right now, though, he was perfectly happy to dance to her tune because he knew he'd be rewarded. When he'd gotten his zipper undone, he stopped, and waited for further instruction.

"Take it out," she said, licking her lips.

Oh, how Sirius loved a girl who wasn't afraid to be bold with him! He shoved his jeans down slightly and pulled out his cock. It was hot and hard and heavy in his hand as he gave it a few strokes, watching her eyes darken again as he played with himself. Jeannie placed her hands on her thighs and raised her face sightly, parting her lips and meeting his eyes, silently telling him to feed her his cock.

Sirius swallowed hard and stepped forward, gripping his shaft in one hand and reaching for the back of her head with the other. He gathered her hair in his fist, keeping it away from her face, and aimed his swollen flesh at her mouth. Her pink tongue darted out and flicked against the head, drawing a cry from his throat. The hand in her hair tightened as did the hand on his shaft. She did it again, licking at the purple head like a kitten lapping milk from a saucer. He needed more. Stepping even closer to her, he put a gentle pressure on the back of her head, begging for her to take him in her mouth. Jeannie looked up at him through her fringe and winked, then opened wide and swallowed him whole.

A strangled groan left his lips as Jeannie's nose nestled into the coarse, black hairs at the base of his cock. His head dropped back and the hand he'd been gripping his shaft with joined the other one in her hair. Sirius was very well-formed, but he wasn't nearly as big as Remus, so Jeannie had no trouble taking him into her throat. She pulled back to take a breath, then did it again, hollowing her cheeks and creating a vacuum that threatened to bring him to his knees. Sirius was determined, though, to not end up on the floor this time, so he locked his knees and took deep breaths, calming himself slightly.

Jeannie bobbed up and down a few times, then withdrew, trailing feather-soft kisses down his shaft. She nuzzled his balls almost lovingly, kissing them and bathing them with her tongue, then sucking each into her mouth and letting them go with a 'pop'. Jeannie knew that the secret to a good blow-job was _enthusiasm_, so she worked him over as though there was literally nothing else in the world she'd rather be doing. When she was finished with his balls, she went back to his cock, kissing and licking her way back to the head and swallowing him again repeatedly. Sirius unconsciously began guiding her head, and it was a good thing Jeannie was an athlete, because she knew a thing or two about breath control.

"Oh, fucking Merlin, baby," Sirius breathed, his head thrown back and his chest heaving. Grunts and growls began leaving him as Jeannie picked up the pace. Sirius couldn't help himself; he starting fucking her mouth. His hands gripped her head, keeping her in position, as his hips made shallow thrusts down her throat. He started mumbling again, like the day before, and Jeannie knew he was getting close.

"Oh, fuck - _close_," he said, looking down at her. Her only response was an arched eyebrow. "_Really?!_" he whined, not entirely sure he could have stopped even if she'd wanted him to. He thrust a few more times, then pulled her off him just long enough for her to take a deep breath and surged back in. Jeannie knew this was it, so she took him in his entirety and contracted her throat around him, swallowing hard and humming.

_"Uuunnnggghhh,"_ was the sound Sirius made as he came in her mouth. His body seized up as his cock pulsed once, twice, three times, shooting his load straight down her throat. He relaxed the hold on her head so she could pull herself off him at her pace. Jeannie pulled back slowly, cleaning him as she did so. When she finally let go of his cock, Sirius stumbled backwards to his chair and fell into it.

"Shit, you're good at that," Sirius said, once he'd regained his breath. Jeannie grinned at him, sitting there in his favorite chair, cock still out and completely disheveled. She wasn't much better, sitting half-naked on his coffee table - no shirt, skirt still bunched up in her lap and her hair all over the place thanks to Sirius' grip.

"You think we should head up to bed?" she asked.

Sirius grimaced. After that orgasm, the thought of going up to his childhood bedroom and sleeping in his childhood bed was very unappealing. He had an idea. Grabbing his wand, he pointed it at the sofa Jeannie had slept on the night before, transfiguring it into an enormous four-poster bed, complete with a canopy and curtains around it. Happy with the bed, he turned his wand on Jeannie, transforming her skirt into the black lace teddy he'd found in her things when he'd spent the afternoon sorting through her boxes with her. She kicked off her shoes and pulled her socks back up so her legs wouldn't get cold while Sirius transformed his jeans into soft sleep pants.

"This is turning into your favorite room, isn't it?" she asked, pulling the covers back and climbing into the bed.

"Yes, think so," he answered, sliding in next to her and kissing her soundly. Sirius could taste traces of himself on her tongue, but he didn't mind. Breaking the kiss, he snapped his fingers, extinguishing the lights. He'd forgotten about the fireplace, though, and he found himself staring at the woman in bed beside him as he saw how beautiful she was in the firelight. The shadows played across her face as she sunk into the pillows, and Sirius followed, laying on his side so he could continue staring. He pulled her close and wrapped an arm across her waist as sleep began to take him.

_Yes,_ he thought, _this is definitely my favorite room. _

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"Holy shit!" was the shout that - rather rudely - woke Sirius and Jeannie the next morning, followed by the sound of quiet chuckles. Sirius opened his eyes slowly to find his younger cousin and his best friend staring at him and laughing about something. What, he had no idea, but he quickly formed an idea as the events of the previous night came back to him. Looking down at his chest, he saw a mass of long, dark hair and an arm slung across it. Plastering a shit-eating grin on his face, he looked back up at his cousin.

"Whassa matter, Tonks?" he asked, his voice still sleepy. "This too much for your innocent eyes?"

Tonks crossed her arms over her chest and smirked down at him. "Nothing I haven't seen before, cousin. In fact, I've been in your position once or twice."

"Hmm? What's that mean?" Sirius asked, his brain not catching up to Tonks' words.

"Yeah, what does that mean?" Remus echoed, making Sirius feel slightly better about not understanding.

"Oh, nothing," Tonks replied airily. "But, you know, girls get curious sometimes... ," she let the sentence hang.

"Moony, what's she talking about?"

"She's saying that we've slept together," came the groggy voice of the other occupant of the bed. Jeannie sat up and stretched, then turned back to Sirius. "Really, Sirius, how thick are you?"

Sirius leaned up, propping himself up on an elbow. "Hang on... are you telling me that you and my cousin have been _intimate_?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," said Jeannie and Tonks.

"Really?" asked Remus and Sirius.

"What, you think the 'Marauders' were the only students to have adventures?" said Tonks sarcastically.

"This happened when you were students?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," said Jeannie. "Want to know something else?" The two men nodded. "Sometimes we invited Charlie."

_"What?!"_

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Since there was clearly no more peace to be had, Jeannie left the warm bed she shared with Sirius and, like the day before, headed back to her place for a work-out and a shower. She went back to Grimmauld after that, however, because she needed to start her 'pureblood lessons' with Sirius. Jeannie had roughly two weeks before the Malfoy's Christmas party and she needed to be prepared. From what she had heard from various members of the magical community, the Malfoy's were a very old, very rich family with all sorts of ties to all sorts of influential people. From what other Order members had told her, they were not people to cross.

According to Sirius and Remus, Lucius Malfoy had been a major supporter or Voldemort during the first war, and they had reason to believe his allegiance hadn't changed. Especially since Harry clearly remembers him being in the graveyard with the other Death Eaters during the Dark Lord's 'rebirth'. Jeannie had a feeling she would need all the help she could get since she'd never had to mingle with that area of society before. She needed to learn how to walk, how to talk and, perhaps most importantly, how to recognize certain people by sight and name.

Sirius' family tapestry would come in very handy for that. Not only were the names of the 'good' purebloods labeled clearly on the wallpaper, but relatives, siblings, marriages and pictures were there as well. She spent several hours that day committing it all to memory and when she was done, she needed a headache potion. It was ridiculous. The bloodlines criss-crossed so many times that she was surprised they weren't all insane from the inbreeding. Sirius' own parents were cousins but, then again, with lines like these, it was impossible to marry anyone you weren't somehow related to.

Jeannie kept this up for days, memorizing names and places and dates and pictures and objects and listening to Sirius explain how certain people wore certain clothes and how certain people walked a certain way and look out for this person's cane because it's not really a cane and... on and on and on and she started seriously considering Sirius' proposal - 'tell everyone you're going, then fake the flu'. It would be infinitely easier than dealing with all this... well, bullshit, really.

Finally, a few days before the kids were scheduled to come back for Christmas, Jeannie'd simply had enough. She went over to Grimmauld, as usual, worked on her potions and had a very nice snog session with Sirius, but she absolutely refused to deal with anything pureblood (except for the one with long black hair and tattoos). She was so exhausted, in fact, that Sirius suggested she go home and sleep it off. There was no Order meeting that night and if she was at her place, there was less chance of random people bursting in at all hours. Grimmauld Place worked great for Headquarters, but getting a full night's rest there was sometimes difficult.

So Jeannie took his advice. She gave him one last kiss, floo'd back to her place and drew herself a bath, despite it only being mid-afternoon. She hadn't done a proper bath in ages, so she got out the candles and salts and even the soft music and laid there for what felt like forever, occasionally using her wand to heat the water back up. By the time she got out, Jeannie was feeling more rested than she had in weeks, but she still needed sleep. She made herself a small dinner and crawled into bed, falling asleep almost instantly and not stirring until a large patronus in the form of a dog woke her suddenly.

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Author's Note: So they fooled around a bit in school... Muggles call it 'the college experience' ;) Extra points for those of you who remember what happened just before Christmas in OotP!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	22. Attacked

Author's Note: A huge welcome to my new fav/followers and a big shout-out to **j-jip**, who not only read my entire fic in one go, but left me a review for each chapter! I think I'm in love ;) Also, **j-jip** is an even better writer than a reviewer, so check it out! In other news, dark times are ahead...

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling

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Chapter 22: Attacked

_'Come immediately. Arthur's been injured. He's at St. Mungo's."_

This was the message that broke into Jeannie's warm slumber. The large silver dog disappeared into whisps, but Sirius' voice rang in her head as if he'd shouted it into her ear. Leaping out of bed, she threw on a pair of jeans, grabbed her shoes and her wand and sprinted down the stairs to her fireplace. Tossing a handful of glittery powder into the fire, she shouted 'Number 12 Grimmauld Place!' and leapt in.

Jeannie stumbled out of Sirius' kitchen fire to see him engaged in a shouting match with the twins. It sounded as though they wanted to barge straight into St. Mungo's and Sirius was doing his best to keep them where they were. Remus filled her in quickly on the details they had and she understood the twins frustration. When she heard one of them make a crack about Sirius not putting his neck on the line, though, she decided to step in.

"Alright, that's enough!" she shouted above the din, every head in the room turning to look at her.

"We're going to see our father!" one twin shouted back decisively, turning to move toward the fireplace.

"Really? How are you going to do that?" she countered.

"Any way we can!" shouted the other.

"Oh, no you're not," Jeannie said, lowering her voice. Eyes flashed and jaws set as identical faces glared at her. "Your father will not thank you for getting in the way." The boys opened their mouths, but she continued. "And that's all you'd accomplish," she said firmly.

Taking a breath and shaking her head to rid it of the last vestiges of sleep and floo disorientation, she moved towards the kids. "Believe me," she said, looking one twin in the eye, "I understand. _I_ _do_. But there is no way to get you into St. Mungo's without doing serious damage to everything we're doing. I'm sorry."

"Fred and I are going," said George, his voice almost dangerous.

"No, George you're not," Jeannie growled. The boys faltered slightly, never having heard that tone of voice from her, but before they could argue more, a small scroll of parchment suddenly appeared on the kitchen table. Sirius reached for it and unrolled it. Scanning it quickly, he handed it to the twins. Fred held it while he and his brother read it.

"Right, we're staying," said George, tossing the note back onto the table and dropping into the nearest chair.

Remus picked it up. It was from Molly, telling them to stay put and she would contact them when she knew something. The medi-wizards were hard at work on Arthur and she didn't want the kids there. She would come as soon as she could.

Jeannie leaned against the table as the adrenaling left her body and finally got around to putting her shoes on. She'd ignored the freezing cold stone floor of Grimmauld's kitchen so far, and she was regretting it. It was common knowledge that she was one of those people whose feet were always cold, and right now, her toes felt like icicles. Sighing at the warmth of her slippers, she looked up when she heard a sniffle.

Ginny had stood, unnoticed, on the other side of Sirius during his argument with the twins, and it seemed that she simply wasn't able to hold it together anymore. Wrapping her arms around herself, Ginny pulled her robe tighter and let her head fall to her chest as her shoulders shook. Sirius turned to her and pulled her into his arms, holding her gently as she cried quietly into his shirt.

Ducking his head, he spoke softly to her, his words unheard by the other occupants of the room. Ginny shook her head slightly and Sirius looked up, scanning the room. Spotting an empty chair, he gently steered her over to it, sitting down and pulling her onto his lap. She looked slightly uncomfortable at first, as though she wasn't quite sure whether she wanted to sit or pace, but soon she relaxed against his chest and buried herself into the safety of his arms.

This was everyone else's cue to sit down as well. There would be no going to the hospital tonight, so there was nothing to do but wait. Remus moved to the stove to start tea and coffee, and silence fell over them except for Order members arriving. Max got there next, followed by Mad-Eye and Tonks. Kingsley's head appeared in the fire, and Remus filled him in, then went back to the stove. Everyone got as comfortable as possible and settled themselves in for a long night.

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It was indeed a _long_ night. Tonks conjured blankets for everyone so they could wrap up and stay warm in the drafty kitchen. Pot after pot of coffee was made and drank, the pantry was raided of every biscuit, muffin and cookie in sight and the only time anyone moved was to go to the bathroom or get another cup of caffeine. Ginny fell asleep twice on top of Sirius, only to wake up in a panic five minutes later, thinking she'd missed something important. Both times Sirius calmed her down gently, swearing to her that if something had happened he would have woken her. This set off more sniffles from her and tissues were becoming precious commodities as well.

Finally, a little after 5 am, the floo came alive and Molly stepped through, looking as though she'd aged ten years in the past few hours. Several of the room's occupants moved as if to get up, but thought better of it, and everyone stayed silent and still as they waited for her to brush the soot off her cloak. Her hair was disheveled and she'd clearly been crying, judging by her blotchy face and blood-shot eyes. She looked up tiredly and took a deep breath.

"He'll live," she said simply.

There were shouts of joy and sighs of relief from around the table and Ginny flew off of Sirius' lap and into her mother's arms. Molly held her daughter tightly, then moved on to hug everyone else as well. Sirius got up and started breakfast, announcing that everyone was to eat, then go to bed for a while and try to get some sleep. Molly tried to protest this, but Sirius was firm, telling her that nobody would be of any use to anybody if they were falling over due to exhaustion. It was proof of just how drained the older woman was that she didn't even have it in her to argue further.

Jeannie got up to help Sirius with the cooking and was a bit surprised at how decent he was in the kitchen. He admitted to her that a full English breakfast was pretty much the limit of his culinary ability, but it was edible, and he was capable of feeding himself if there was no pretty witch around willing to make lasagna. This made her laugh as she remembered their 'dinner date' of a few months before. _Why haven't we done that since?,_ she thought.

The mood was considerably lighter as they ate and the twins even managed to crack a few jokes. Ginny ate a small amount, then pulled her knees up to her chest and waited patiently in her own chair until Sirius finished his. When he pushed his plate away, she looked at him, silently asking for something. He caught her gaze and cocked his head, not understanding yet. She flicked her eyes down to his lap and back to his face, blushing slightly, and then he understood. Moving his chair away from the table just enough fo her to slip in, he held his hand out to her, which she immediately took, resuming her place on his lap.

This brought a curious look from Molly; she'd never known her daughter and Sirius to be particularly close, but it had been an emtionally draining night for everyone involved and she found herself grateful to Sirius as she saw how relaxed Ginny seemed with him. He was right, too, about everyone needing to go to bed after breakfast. Once their plates were empty, eyes began to droop and yawns became frequent. One by one they made their way to their bedrooms.

All exept Ginny, that is, who had fallen fast asleep against Sirius' chest once again. He nudged her slightly to wake her so she could go up to bed, but her only response was a grunt as she fisted a hand in his shirt. He relented and hooked his free arm under her knees, picking her up. Carrying her upstairs, he followed Hermione into the girls room and asked her which bed was Ginny's. She led him to the one closest to the door and pulled the blankets back, so he laid the sleeping girl down gently and carefully removed her hand from his shirt. Sirius pulled her covers over her and left the room, sending Hermione a small smile as he closed their door.

Turning away from the girls' room, Sirius was met by the twins, their eyes downcast and sheepish looks on their faces.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," said one twin, offering his hand. "Fred and I shouldn't have spoken to you that way earlier."

"No harm done, George," Sirius replied, shaking the boy's hand.

"I'm sorry, too," said Fred. "We know you don't really want to be locked up here and it was unfair of us yell at you like that."

"I appreciate that, Fred," he said, shaking Fred's hand as well. "Let's forget about it, shall we?"

The boys nodded and headed up to their room. Sirius felt a wave of pride as they walked off. The twins had been very small when he was sent to prison and it made him feel good to get to witness them turning into men before his eyes. What they just did took balls, and he was glad to see it. It showed that beneath their pranks and jokes and general fooling about, they did have a serious nature to them, and that was something he felt they were going to need very soon.

It was early afternoon before anyone stirred and, when they did, they still looked exhausted. Predictably, Molly was the first one up and about, bustling about in the kitchen and cleaning up from breakfast. Sirius opened his mouth to argue this, but Jeannie silenced him with a look. She knew that Molly would feel better if she was doing something productive, and nothing was more productive for her than taking care of her family. Molly puttered and fussed and made lunch, making sure everyone ate as much as they could. Even Remus was included, with Molly standing over him, making sure he ate a third brownie.

Poor Harry looked like shit, but when Sirius tried to talk to him, Harry said he was fine. It was clear that the boy was keeping a lot of things inside, but if he wasn't ready to talk, then he wasn't ready to talk. He had enough on his plate without Sirius pressuring him, so Sirius let him be, trusting that Harry would come to him in his own time. There would be plenty of time in Harry's life for everyone else to make demands of him, but Sirius was determined not to be one of those people. Molly, on the other hand, thought he was a hero, and was feeding him like one. Luckily, the boy had known Molly long enough to let her do her thing and thank her for it.

Later that afternoon, Molly went back to St. Mungo's to visit Arthur. The kids protested at not being allowed to accompany her, but she was firm; she didn't know what state he was in and until she did, the children were not going. Jeannie agreed with her; they knew Arthur was going to live, they did not need to see him bloody and bruised. Sirius once again came to the rescue. He had decided that Grimmauld was to be decorated for Christmas and recruited the kids to help. Remus was sent out to find a tree, ribbons and garlands were hung and mistletoe was suspended from every available door frame.

When Remus got back with the tree, they had even more fun. Baubles and balls and candycanes were hung on the branches and Remus used a neat bit of charmwork to conjure lights that not only blinked, but floated around the tree. For the angel on top, Sirius had frozen a rogue doxy that had somehow escaped Molly's purge, stuck a halo on it's head and tied him to the very top of the tree. The girls thought that was a bit ghoulish of him and Hermione had several things to say on the subject, but Sirius ignored them all, choosing instead to chase his cousin around the house with a bunch of mistletoe, trying to steal a kiss. He and Jeannie weren't commom knowledge yet, and since they hadn't even had that conversation, he thought it safer to hound Tonks for now (at least in public; he had every intention of snogging Jeannie under the mistletoe at the first opportunity).

The holidays seemed to bring out a side of Sirius that was completely foreign and unexpected to everyone but Remus. Several times during the decorating, he had randomly broken into song - usually not the original lyrics, but the original tune mixed with slightly inappropriate verses of his own invention. He could be heard singing _"It's Starting To Look A Lot Like Kiss-mass"_ while hanging up the mistletoe and making rude noises at his cousin, and _"Rudolf The Red-Arsed Centaur"_ drifted down the hall as he hung the wreath on the front door. Unfortunately, that one woke up his mother in the front hall, and he and Remus spent a good ten minutes wrestling her curtains closed as she berated Sirius for his very existance.

Now, normally, that would have put him in a rather foul mood, but that day it simply bounced off him. Once the curtains were shut tight, he walked quietly down the hall and, when he was sure he was out of range, resumed his carolling. A medley of apparent favorites followed, including the ever popular (according to him) _"God Rest Ye Merry Hippogryffs"_. Hermione and Ginny liked that one, particularly after Remus told them that Sirius sang it at the top of his voice in the middle of the Great Hall on a dare from James one year.

By the time Molly returned, Sirius had finally lost his voice and was currently hard at work teaching the twins the proper way to spike the eggnog. Not too much too soon, he cautioned, because then people like their mother and McGonagall would notice. It needed to be fairly subtle at first, at least until everyone was slightly inebriated, and then they could go a little wild. Steadfastly ignoring Remus' unamused expression and Hermione's disapproving 'tut's, the three of them came up with an acceptable cocktail. At the sound of their Mother's voice in the kitchen signalling her return, the twins stuffed their notes into their pockets and assumed well-practiced innocent faces.

It was all for naught, though, as Molly was too busy fighting back tears at how beautiful the house looked to notice that her identical sons looked guilty as hell. Nobody had gotten around to decorating the kitchen yet, so when she'd stepped out of the kitchen fireplace, there was nothing to indicate any changes. As she began walking down the hall, however, she saw Santa hats on the severed house-elf heads and garlands hanging from anywhere there was a hang-able spot. And when she got to the sitting room where they'd set up the tree, she gasped audibly and put her hand over her heart.

"Do you like it?" asked Sirius, who was standing to her right.

Molly looked up at the tattoed escaped convict who was keeping her family together while her husband was in the hospital and letting everyone stay at his house so they'd be safer and even wearing a Santa hat of his own... She didn't answer him, she simply flung her arms around his neck and brought him down to her level for a bone-crushing hug. Sirius huffed in surprised, but hugged her back, taking that as his answer.

"I'm flattered, Molls," he said when she finally pulled away, "but it's a bit inappropriate in front of the children, don't you think? I mean, with your husband in the hospital and all- "

"Oohhh," she said, smacking him in the chest, but still blushing slightly as he grinned and the kids laughed.

"Hi, mom!" Tonks and Jeannie chorused, coming up on either side of her and kissing both cheeks.

"Hello, girls," Molly said fondly, cupping the girls' faces and smiling at them.

"How's Arthur?" Remus asked.

"Oh, he's getting there," she said, moving to one of the sofas and taking a seat. "Would you believe he's been trying to convince one of his healers to use Muggle methods to close his wounds? Hermione, dear, what are those called?"

"Stitches?" the bushy-haired girl suggested.

Molly nodded. "That sounds right. I mean, really - Muggle medicine against a basilisk bite?!" She shook her head, clearly exasperated. "On the other hand, he's never had the opportunity to try Muggle medicine, so I suppose he wouldn't be Arthur if he didn't take this chance. I love him to death, I do, but- " she left the statement hanging and sighed.

"Have a drink, Molly," said Sirius, offering her some of the eggnog he and the twins had worked on.

"Mmm, this is quite good, Sirius, thank you," she said, taking a sip. The twins watched on, wide-eyed and Sirius sent them a covert wink. Jeannie could almost see the cogs turing in their heads as they watched their mother seemingly unknowingly imbibe. Sirius turned around and grinned at Remus, clearly pleased with himself at not having lost his touch. Remus' lips thinned, but he didn't say anything as his friend poured himself into his chair.

Molly looked exhausted still, so Sirius did the same thing he'd done when he and Jeannie and Tonks and Remus had dined on Chinese a couple of months prior; he tossed Jeannie his money bag and asked her to run out and get them food. Molly argued, saying that she was perfectly capable of making supper, but Sirius was having none of it. Ignoring her, he told Jeannie that pizza sounded good to him and that there used to be a great pizza joint about three blocks west of the Leaky Cauldron. Jeannie didn't know the place, but Tonks did, so the girls decided to go together and get food for everyone. Borrowing Remus' and Sirius' cloaks (since they hadn't brought theirs in the rush to get to headquarters in the middle of the night), they wrapped themselves up and headed out into the night.

Pie's House turned out to be a hole-in-the-wall dive, but it smelled fantastic and since (as everyone knows) you can't judge a pizza joint by the look but by the smell, she followed Tonks in. Tonks ordered six pizzas and she and Jeannie watched them come in and out of a traditional brick oven. When all six were done, the girls headed over to the Leaky Cauldron to pick up a case of Butterbeer, then back to Grimmauld and called everybody in to the sitting room to eat. Sirius summoned plates from the kitchen and then it was a free-for-all. Jeannie sat on the arm of Sirius' chair while she ate, silently showing Molly how close she and Sirius had become, and even shared his bottle of Butterbeer. The older womand noticed, of course, but chose not to say anything - merely watching the display.

Molly absolutely insisted on clearing away the plates, and this time Sirius let her because he knew she'd sleep better if she felt as though she'd gotten something accomplished. Gradually, the rowdiness led to yawning, and the yawning to nodding off. Once the kids had said their goodnights, Sirius transfigured the two sofas in the sitting room into beds for Jeannie and Max after a brief, but silent, conversation with Jeannie. There had been enough to deal with today and she just wanted to be there on hand just in case. She and Sirius could steal some alone time later, but she knew Molly would probably have something to say on the subject of her and Sirius and, right now, she didn't have the energy for it. After saying goodnight to Max, Jeannie snapped her fingers to kill the lights and let sleep take her. It had been a long day.

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Author's Note: This chapter has been fighting me all week. I've finally managed to mold it into something relatively like what's in my head, but I may go back and edit it if inspiration strikes. I'm still proud of it, however, so be sure to let me know what you think about it!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	23. A Very Malfoy Christmas

Author's note: THIS IS A DOUBLE POST! This chapter and the next are heavy ones, but very important. I actually tried to have this done in time for Christmas, but it was simply impossible, so here it is now. I also want to take the opportunity to thank all of you wonderful reviewers for (for the most part) being so accepting of the little changes here and there to the original story and/or my completely original situations. You guys have been so good to me and so encouraging - it makes me want to write more :)

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling

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Chapter 23: A Very Malfoy Christmas

Sirius paced restlessly in the sitting room. Jeannie was upstairs getting ready for the Malfoy's Christmas Party and he was _very _nervous about this. The Malfoys were shameless in their support for Voldemort and Sirius wondered, again, at the wisdom of Jeannie taking this assignment. In his opinion, there were a million ways that this could go wrong and really no way that it could go right. There was also no way to send anyone with Jeannie to look after her. Sirius didn't count Snape - once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater in his book and no amount of assurances that he'd turned good would do it for him.

He sighed again and looked up at the ceiling. He'd already tried getting Jeannie to change her mind and failed, so he'd settled for making her as prepared as possible. If there was one thing Sirius knew about, it was pureblood families. The ways, rites and traditions had been pounded into him from birth and he had spent an entire day writing out things that she should keep an eye out for, including renegade cousins like Bellatrix. She had looked at him skeptically, but even Snape didn't know who might be hiding in the sprawling, ancient Malfoy Manor. It was more of a castle, really, and Sirius remembered it well. He had been dragged there countless times as a child, and spent most of his time looking for hidden passages that led_ out_. He had even drawn out a very detailed map for her - just in case she needed it.

Sirius looked at the clock. Seven-thirty. Jeannie needed to be leaving soon. He stopped his pacing and went to go get her. He climbed the staircase to the second landing, and knocked on the girls' door. Jeannie had appropriated the room for the purposes of getting ready for this party. He knocked on the door and heard her say "Come in". He opened the door and nearly fell over. Jeannie was wearing a floor-length blood-red gown. It had long sleeves and a high collar, but no back and had a split that came almost to her hip. The thin material clung to her body in all the right areas and Sirius felt his mouth go dry. She was fastening her earrings in front of the mirror and had her back to him.

Jeannie heard the door open, but nobody said anything, so she turned around to find Sirius staring at her with raw lust in his eyes. She watched as his eyes traveled from her red high heels, up her leg that was peeking out of the split, past her hips to her chest and finally settled on her face. His eyes were the color of steel as they always were when she turned him on and Jeannie smirked knowingly at him. His eyes narrowed and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"I take it you like the dress," she said, her voice taking on a sultry tone.

"Mmm. You know where it would look even better, though?" he asked, entering the room and walking towards her.

"Where's that?"

"In pieces on my floor," he said, reaching her and pinning her against the dresser she stood in front of. He ducked his head and ran his nose along her neck, inhaling deeply and growling softly as she moved her head to give him better access. She'd pinned up her hair, which gave him plenty of neck to nuzzle.

"Don't wrinkle my dress, Sirius," she said. He took one last sniff and backed away a bit, not wanting to get caught doing something inappropriate in the girls' bedroom. Jeannie looked up at him and smiled. She had a feeling tonight was going to be harder for him than for her. "Is it time?" she asked. Sirius nodded. She shoved her wand into the arm holster that laid beneath her sleeve and they walked downstairs together.

Jeannie entered the sitting room to wolf-whistles and catcalls. Sirius grabbed her hand and twirled her around to the enjoyment of every male in the room. She walked over to Remus who was holding her cloak and allowed him to drape it over her shoulders. Doing up the clasp, she reached up to give him a hug. He whispered encouragement in her ear and she kissed his cheek, then moved back to Sirius who was standing in the doorway waiting for her. As she approached him he grinned wickedly and looked up. Following his gaze, Jeannie saw that someone (probably Sirius) had hung mistletoe in the doorway. She looked back at Sirius to find him staring at her challengingly.

_Oh, yeah?,_ she thought, moving closer. Molly had already left to spend the night with Arthur in St. Mungo's, so she didn't have to worry about getting lectured about snogging Sirius. When she was close enough, she wrapped an arm around his neck and brought him in for a toe-curling kiss. Forcing her tongue into his mouth, she felt his surprise, then his happy acceptance. She snogged him thoroughly and was silently grateful for charmed lipstick as she listened to a whole new round of whistles and calls and felt Sirius' arms tighten around her. They pulled apart when Jeannie heard the clock chime. Seven forty-five. Time to go. Sirius hooked a finger under her chin and gave her one more quick kiss.

"Be careful," he said, his voice urgent and his face worried. "I _don't _like this."

"I know. I don't like it much, either. Wait up for me?" she asked and he nodded. "Right, everybody, see you later," she said, turning on the spot and disapparating.

Sirius kicked the doorframe in frustration and looked at Remus. "I don't like this, Moony," he said, for the millionth time.

"I know, Padfoot," the werewolf sighed, "but Jeannie is a highly capable witch and if something goes wrong, Snape will be there- "

"Fuck Snape!"

Remus rolled his eyes and sighed again. This was going to be a long night.

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Jeannie apparated just outside the Malfoy's gate and held her invitation up to the gargoyle guard. He inclined his head, and the gate opened for her. Taking a deep breath, she approached the manor. Sirius was right, it was more like a castle complete with turrets and even a moat. As she crossed the drawbridge, she idly wondered what sort of Dark creature might be swimming in the murky water. Finally, she made it to the door, and again held out her invitation for inspection. This time it was a pitiful looking house-elf who checked it and did not make eye contact with her. She figured he probably wasn't allowed to, being a servant and all. Unlike Sirius, Jeannie had _no_ experience dealing with old pureblood families and was more nervous than she wanted to admit. He was already worried enough, though, and she hadn't wanted to give him any more reason to try and stop her.

The house-elf finished his perusal of her invitation and opened the door to let her in. She walked past him without acknowledging him, because that's what a pureblood would do, and she was at least trying to blend in. As she walked in, she was grateful for Sirius' crash course in the family tree because she was immediately able to recognize almost everyone present. It was like a who's who of upper-class wizarding society, with several wannabe's thrown in for good measure. The house-elf tugged at her cloak "May Fotzy take this for you miss?" he asked very quietly, keeping his eyes down. Jeannie bit back the 'thank you' that almost escaped, and simply shrugged out of the garment, letting the elf take it. It would not do to be caught thanking the help in company like this.

She looked around, attempting to get her bearings and saw Narcissa Malfoy coming towards her. The older woman looked regal in a long, expensive gown of green and silver, of course. Must show the Slytherin House pride at all available opportunities. Her long, blonde hair was pinned back out of her face, but still allowed to fall around her shoulders and Jeannie could tell by her facial features that she had been a Black before she married. She had the aristocratic nose and cheekbones of the Black family, but while Sirius and Andromeda's faces held a certain warmth, Narcissa's opted for cold indifference. They also had the same grey eyes.

"Miss Jones," said Narcissa, giving a small smile. "Welcome to our home. I'm glad you could attend."

"Lady Malfoy," Jeannie greeted correctly, mirroring her haughty attitude. "I had been told it was something I shouldn't miss."

"Indeed?" Narcissa asked, raising an eyebrow. "Who told you that, may I ask?"

Jeannie smiled cryptically. "I have friends," she said, trying to make it sound as though she was used to rubbing elbows with the Malfoy's _kind_.

Narcissa smiled approvingly. "Won't you join us?" she asked. "I'd like to introduce you to my husband and my son."

Jeannie inclined her head and allowed herself to be lead over to a group of _very_ snooty-looking men, all of whom gave Jeannie a good leer as she and Narcissa approached. She recognized an Avery, a Nott, and a Goyle before turning her attention to the man she knew was Lucius Malfoy. She locked eyes with him and suppressed a shiver. His eyes were ice blue and may as well have belonged to a corpse for all the warmth they held. He took his time looking her over and Jeannie was careful to not let her disgust show. She'd had men stare at her for years, probably since before it was appropriate, but there was something dark about Lucius' gaze.

"Miss Jones," said Narcissa, "may I present my husband, Lucius. Lucius, this is Jeannie Jones."

Jeannie held out her hand, but instead of shaking it, Lucius brought it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "A pleasure," he purred.

"The pleasure is mine, Lord Malfoy," she answered. His hands and lips had been as cold as his eyes and she suddenly realized why Sirius spent so much time trying to sneak out of here as a child.

"Please, call me Lucius," he replied, finally releasing her hand. "Have you met our son, Draco?"

"No," Narcissa answered for her. "I thought he would be with you."

"He was, but he got- _called away,_" said Lucius, sharing a look with his wife. Jeannie remained impassive, as if she could not possibly know what that meant. "I'm sure he'll be back soon- ah, here he is now."

Jeannie turned to see the boy that Harry had told her about. Draco looked like the ideal mix of Malfoy and Black blood. He had Narcissa's features with Lucius' haughty air and, even at fifteen, stood slightly taller than Jeannie. She noticed, however, that the boy had not yet learned how to mask his features nearly as well as his father and, right now, looked scared shitless. Jeannie wondered just _who_ had called him away. As he approached, he quickly schooled his features. Narcissa' face immediately softened and Jeannie took note of that. Perhaps she wasn't as cold as she wanted everyone to believe.

"Mother, Father," Draco greeted.

"Draco, dear, I'd like you to meet Jeannie Jones," Narcissa said.

Draco looked at Jeannie and bowed slightly. "Pleasure," he said, then looked up to see his father eyeing him expectantly. "Would you like to dance, Miss Jones?" he asked, looking as though he desperately wanted her to say no.

Jeannie smiled. "I'd love to, Draco," she said, watching his eyes widen slightly. Draco hesitated, then held out his arm. Jeannie took it, and he lead them to the dance-floor. Lucius may have been training him in the ways of Death Eaters, but Draco clearly knew nothing about girls, and Jeannie almost laughed as he tried to decide where to put his hands. He had seen the back of her dress (or lack of) and was not sure he was allowed to touch her bare skin.

"Calm down, Draco," she said, watching his face flush. "Put your hands where they would normally go, it's alright."

"Sorry," he mumbled awkwardly, carefully laying his hand on her back and leading her in the dance like he'd been taught to do.

"Don't worry about it," she said gently. "I'm the one that picked the dress, remember?"

Draco nodded. "It's just - this is the first party that I've had to - um - "

"Take a more active role?" Jeannie supplied. He nodded again. "Well, I think you're doing just fine," she said, knowing that sometimes a little encouragement was all that was needed.

"Thanks," he said, still a little stiff.

"Draco," she said, making him look at her. "Loosen up a little, I'm not going to bite you. You're a very good dancer, you're just uncomfortable. Ease up some, you're doing fine."

He took a breath and relaxed some, looking at her for approval. She smiled at him and nodded, and he smiled back. Jeannie saw Lucius watching them and knew she was going to have to play this carefully. Draco wouldn't know why she was actively being nice to him, but his father would, and she didn't want to make enemies right now. The music stopped and she and Draco moved apart. This time, however, Draco let his fingers trail along her skin as he pulled back. Jeannie raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned shyly at her, blushing. He knew he'd been caught, but Jeannie was perfectly happy to make it their little secret. Sending him a sly wink, she curtseyed as he bowed to her and they left the floor.

Jeannie spent the next couple of hours mingling and dancing and keeping her eyes open. She had seen Snape a couple of times, but he had given her a look that told her not to approach him. Knowing that he was a master spy, she followed his lead. She did notice, however, that several people (all of whom were on the Order's list of proven or suspected Death Eaters) would leave for a while, then return and act as though they had just gone to the bathroom. This told Jeannie that there was someone in the house that the Order would probably like to know about and she started thinking about how she could do a little snooping.

She danced with Draco again, who was much more comfortable with her this time around and, unfortunately, his father. There really wasn't a way that she could have gotten out of dancing with Lucius - what with it being his party and the way he had looked at her earlier, but she wasn't happy about it. He took the opportunity to question her about where she came from, clearly wanting to know her blood status but thinking it beneath him to just come out and ask, and she answered him truthfully, but superficially. She told him what he wanted to know, but didn't volunteer any more, so that he didn't have any information that he couldn't have gotten from any interview she had ever done. Unlike Severus, Jeannie wasn't playing both sides - she didn't lie to Lucius, she simply left some things out and let him come to his own conclusions.

Sometime around midnight, Jeannie saw her opportunity. She slipped away from the heart of the party and asked one of the house-elves to show her where the bathroom was. The elf lead her to a lavish bathroom that matched the decadence of the rest of the Manor and then left to continue serving the party's guests. Jeannie took a few minutes to form a plan in her mind. The hallway the house-elf had just lead her through had several doors, all of which had been closed. If she were to cast a _Homenum Revelio_ charm on each door, however, that would tell her if the rooms were occupied. She had to be careful, though, because she didn't want the spell to pick up party guests instead of sneaky Death Eaters. She had to be quick as well, because didn't want to be gone from the party for too long.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to act on her plan because just as she stepped out of the bathroom, wand in hand, she saw a man exiting a room two doors down the hall. Jeannie froze, positive that this was someone she wasn't supposed to know about. She watched as the man's head moved around as if he were sniffing the air. Then, before she could slip back into the safety of the bathroom, he turned and looked directly at her. Their eyes met and, yet again, Jeannie recognized someone. She was looking straight into the eyes of Fenrir Greyback.

_Shit._

Jeannie immediately forced herself to remain calm. She had heard that Greyback was so in tune with his wolf that he could hear the heartbeats of those around him and she _did not_ want him to know that she was affected by his presence. She knew from her experience with Max and Remus and other werewolves that fear is a very strong smell and one of the easiest emotions to sense. She knew that even a werewolf who spent all his time with witches and wizards still retained his animal senses, no matter what day of the month it was. She also knew that she was very, _very _screwed right now.

She decided to play dumb. Flashing a quick smile, she turned as if to head back to the party, but Greyback stopped her.

"Wait," he growled.

Jeannie stopped and turned, a blank look on her face. Perhaps if she acted like one of the vapid pureblood women at the party, he would think nothing more of her. That thought disappeared, however, as he began to move toward her. It took every ounce of self control she had to not back away as he got closer. She now knew what a feral werewolf looked like. She now knew why Remus feared himself so much. She now knew that she would be very lucky to live through the night.

"Yes?" she asked with a small smile, still playing dumb.

Greyback got close, very close. Jeannie struggled to retain eye contact. Whereas a human's eyes were brown or blue or grey or some combination thereof, a werewolf's eyes retained some amber or yellow- just a bit, just enough to make them different. Greyback's eyes, however, were pure yellow. Not amber from the moon, but yellow like an animal's. His body, too was menacing. He didn't walk up to her, he stalked her like a predator, waiting to strike. Jeannie stayed still, not wanting to give him any reason to.

"You know who I am," he said, stopping right in front of her. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"I don't remember being introdu- "

"You _know_ who I am," he interrupted her.

Jeannie made a show of sighing impatiently. "I'm afraid - "

"You should be," he said lowly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm _afraid_ that I need to get back to the party before I'm missed, Mr. Greyback" she said.

He laughed. "_Mister?_ You dare to give me a wizards title?" He laughed again. "You're bold - I'll give you that. I like it."

"It is of no concern to me what you like or don't like," she said in a snotty tone. "I must be getting back, I'll be missed - "

"By whom, Miss Jones?" came the voice of Lucius Malfoy who, by the sound of it, was standing right behind her.

Jeannie took a deep breath and turned around. "Tell me, Lucius, just what are my chances of making it out of the Manor alive tonight?" she asked him, seeing no point in carrying on the charade.

He smiled menacingly. "I honestly don't know. That depends on what _Mr._ Greyback says."

"Really? Of all the things I might have suspected you of, Lucius, I never thought you'd take your orders from beasts," she said, trying to get him to lose his temper. If he got nasty in the hallway, she had a chance of getting out of there. He wouldn't want to bring attention to the current situation. He only sneered at her, however, and another hope was dashed.

"I want to know something," said Greyback from behind her. She felt him come close and lean down to talk in her ear. "I want to know why you smell like my pup." He sniffed at her. "That wizard-loving, Dumbledore stooge _Remus Lupin_."

_Double shit._

Jeannie knew why she smelled like Remus. She'd given him a hug before coming here.

Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Well, Miss Jones, care to answer that question?"

"Not really. Who I associate with is none of your busin- _mmph!_"

Greyback clamped a hand over her mouth at the same moment Lucius disarmed her. Jeannie kicked and screamed but, of course, she was no match for Greyback's strength. She did get in a few good kicks, however, even landing a nasty blow to Lucius' crotch. He snarled at her and silenced her, then Greyback threw her over his shoulder and hauled her into the room he had exited. He payed no attention to her kicking and punching every inch of him she could reach, instead he simply dropped her like a sack of potatoes on the floor in the middle of the room and walked away. Lucius closed the door and removed the silencing charm.

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Author's note: Part two is next! Please review!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	24. Injured

Author's note: DON'T FORGET, THIS IS A DOUBLE POST! If you didn't read chapter 23, this one will make no sense, so please read that one first and then come back to this one. I'll love you forever if you review each one ;)

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 24: Injured

"The room is warded. Nobody will hear you," said Lucius Malfoy coldly, clearly pissed off about the kick in the balls.

Jeannie said nothing, she just watched as he moved towards her. His ice blue eyes bored into her and had taken on a menacing quality that was unnerving. She had no doubt that the man in front of her knew she was at his mercy. He could do whatever he wanted with her, and he'd get away with it. Now that he had her wand, she was fairly defenseless. Whatever wandless magic she was able to do was limited to basic stuff like summoning small objects or turning the lights on. She certainly wouldn't be able to duel him, but she had a feeling that dueling was the furthest thing from his mind. Suddenly Lucius smiled at her.

"Miss Jones," he said, "allow me to introduce my sister-in-law." He gestured to someone behind her.

Jeannie looked around from her position on the floor with a feeling of dread. Sure enough, standing behind her, was Bellatrix Lestrange. The woman looked like Azkaban had sapped whatever sanity she'd ever had, but she also looked as though she was happier that way. Sirius had told her that his cousin had always been slightly demented and that it had only gotten worse as she'd gotten older. Jeannie's evening had officially gone to hell.

"Pleasure," said Jeannie dryly. Bellatrix smiled at her and bowed mockingly. She wore a black dress that looked as though she had shredded it before putting it on and her hair looked as though she'd stuck her finger in an electrical socket. Her eyes, though, were truly frightening. They were black, coal black, and glittered dangerously. There was no way to read her eyes and that made her truly unpredictable and downright scary.

"What has this lovely little specimen done, Lucius?" she asked. Her voice was high, like a little girl's, and added another dimension to her insanity.

"My dear Bella, I have reason to believe that this 'lovely little specimen', as you put it, is a member of Dumbledore's lovely little Order," he replied, now circling Jeannie.

Bellatrix's eyes widened. "Oooh, really? And how do we know that?"

"Greyback here smelled Remus Lupin on her."

The deranged witch gave an exaggerated gasp and put a hand to her heart. "Could it be true?" she asked Jeannie.

Jeannie blinked at her. "Hmm? Oh, sorry, I wasn't paying attention," she said, earning herself the back of Lucius' hand. She didn't cry out, but she did taste blood.

"I think, Bella," said Lucius, "that we're going to have to teach her some manners."

"Oh, I quite agree," said Bellatrix, nearly bouncing in excitement, as though she had just been offered her favorite candy. "How to do it, how to do it," she sang, skipping around the room. Suddenly she stopped with a triumphant look on her face. "I know! Since she's a muggle-lover, we'll punish her in a muggle way!" Bellatrix waved her wand and a whip appeared. She studied it for a moment, then tested it, a loud _crack!_ filling the room.

"Wait," said Lucius, making Bellatrix pout. "I want Draco here. This will be a good lesson for him. Tizzy!" he shouted, summoning a house-elf. The pitiful creature appeared immediately and bowed. "Bring my son to me," Lucius ordered. The elf bowed again and disappeared.

"In the mean-time," said Bellatrix, "I'll set things up." She waved her wand at Jeannie, binding her wrists together and pulling then above her head so that her feet just barely grazed the floor. Jeannie kicked and fought, but the bindings were too good, so she started mentally preparing herself for what was to come.

The door opened and Draco walked in. He closed the door and turned around. His eyes met Jeannie's and, in that moment, she knew Draco Malfoy. Harry had told her that Draco was evil, but Jeannie could see that he was just a scared little boy. His already pale face lost even more color and he swallowed hard before looking at his father. Jeannie could see Draco trembling and tried to tell him with her eyes that, whatever happened, it would be okay. Even if Lucius forced Draco to punish her himself, she was not going to hold a grudge against the boy. He may have the Dark Mark on his arm soon enough, but Draco Malfoy was no Death Eater and Jeannie knew it.

"You called me, father?" he said, his voice wavering just a little.

"Yes, Draco," said Lucius, moving to stand beside his son in front of Jeannie. "This young lady has come here under false pretenses tonight. She is one of Dumbledore's little puppets and your aunt and I have decided to punish her accordingly. I want you to witness it."

"Yes, father," Draco said, his voice just barely above a whisper.

"Draco," Bellatrix called. "I want you to watch me very closely because you're going to help." Draco looked at Jeannie once more, as if trying to apologize for what he may have to do to her, then went to stand next to his aunt behind her. "Now," Bellatrix said, "you hold the whip like this," she paused, "then you bring it back like this and - "

_ Crack! _

The whip came down sharply on Jeannie's back. Her muscles tensed involuntarily, but she didn't make a sound. She was determined not to give the bastards the satisfaction of hearing her scream. Lucius and Greyback moved in and out of her vision, clearly trying to get the best view of the show.

"You see, Draco," Bellatrix said. "I'll show you again."

_Crack!_

Jeannie flinched again and tears began forming in her eyes. She wondered if Severus had noticed her absence.

"Now you try." Jeannie supposed that Bellatrix had given Draco the whip. She heard shuffling behind her, and knew that Draco was trying to find a way to do this without actually having to hurt her, but that was going to be impossible. Hopefully, he was smart enough to realize that it would only get worse for both of them if he mucked about.

"Like this?" she heard Draco ask, giving her time to prepare herself for the next blow.

_Crack!_

Jeannie bit down hard on her lip, again tasting blood.

"Yes, very good, Draco," came Lucius' voice, almost purring. _Dirty bastard,_ Jeannie thought,_ he's probably getting a stiffie from this._ "Again."

_Crack!_

Lucius made Draco give her five more lashes before he was satisfied. "Alright, Draco, you may rejoin the party. I don't want your presence to be missed."

"Yes, father," Draco said. Jeannie heard him moving around, then saw him walk to the door. He stopped and look back at her once, then he was gone. She hoped that he had enough left in him to say something to Snape. He was the only one that could help at all.

"Now, my dear," she heard Lucius say to her. "Playtime is over." By now, she could fell blood beginning to run down her back and felt herself beginning to weaken. She clamped her mouth shut, though, and waited for the next round. She didn't wait long. Lucius - or Bellatrix - she wasn't sure which, began giving her lash after lash until she'd lost count of how many there'd been and threatened to lose consciousness. Jeannie could hear laughing and Greyback had started circling her again with a predatory look on his face, is nostrils flaring with every lash. Her eyes grew heavy and the tears were running freely, but still she didn't make a sound.

Then her salvation appeared. The door in front of her opened and Severus Snape slipped into the room. He looked around, taking in the scene before him and Jeannie begged him with her eyes to make it stop.

"Have you taken leave of your senses, Lucius?" Snape asked mildly.

"I beg your pardon, Severus? Since when have you minded punishing one of Dumbledore's pets?" Lucius answered imperiously.

"I enjoy few things more, as you well know, but do you think it wise to do this with a house full of guests who are beginning to question your absence? And afterwards - did you plan on killing her or letting her go? You know she's in the public eye and the Dark Lord does not want publicity yet."

"What do you suggest, Severus?" asked Lucius, sounding disappointed in having to stop his little game.

"Go back to your party, Lucius. I will take care of this. You've had your fun, Bella," he said when she made a sound of protest.

"But I haven't made her scream yet, Severus," she whined.

"That's too bad, Bella, but now it's over," Snape drawled, sounding bored with it all. "Go back to your guests, Lucius, tell them that Miss Jones had to leave. I'll take it from here."

"You didn't tell us she was part of the Order, Severus," Bellatrix said. "Is there a reason for this oversight?" Jeannie noticed, even in her diminished state, that the witch sounded suspicious of Snape.

"I give my information to the Dark Lord, Bella, not to you. If you have a problem with that, take it up with him," he answered with finality.

Jeannie heard her huff like a child that's just been denied ice cream. "Fine," she said petulantly.

Lucius moved to the door and stopped in front of Severus. "You seem awfully keen to 'take care of this'," he said.

"Hardly," Snape said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm simply trying to minimize the work I have to do to clean up your mess. As it stands, I have to treat her - possibly for days if you've done this properly. Imagine all the work I'd have to do if you'd killed her and this was the last place she was seen alive. The Ministry may be in your pocket, Lucius, but the gossip papers aren't. You still need to exercise a _bit_ of discretion."

Jeannie hung heavily on the invisible bindings as the world began to close in on her. Her vision started getting blurry and there was a rushing in her ears making it hard to hear what was going on around her. She was exhausted physically and mentally and she could feel blood steadily soaking into her dress. She had no idea how much longer she would last like this and she desperately needed Severus to wrap up this little pissing contest with Lucius. Just as her eyes started to close she felt a spell hit her. Her eyes opened wide and she tried desperately to communicate what just happened to Snape. Thankfully, he understood, because he immediately rounded on Bellatrix.

"What was that, Bella?" he asked.

"What was what?" she evaded.

Jeannie saw Snape give her a look, then seemed to get down to business. "Fine, cut her down." Nothing happened. Snape sighed and flicked his wand, cutting her bindings himself. Jeannie fell to the floor in a heap and didn't move. She didn't have the energy to. Feeling herself being levitated, she tried to look at Severus, but he was still talking to Lucius.

"I'll need the use of the floo in your study, it's connected directly to my office," he said.

"Fine," Lucius replied curtly.

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Jeannie was only dimly aware of being led through the bowels of Malfoy Manor before being shoved into a fireplace. Coming out on the other end, she appeared to be in the Hogwarts dungeons and was listening to Snape muttering angrily under his breath and tossing several items into a small black bag. When he had what he needed, Jeannie was once again thrown into a floo connection and this time came out in the the sitting room of Grimmauld Place still under the levitation charm with Snape right behind her. She barely registered everyone's shocked faces before Sirius was on his feet and pinning Snape against the mantlepiece with his wand out.

"What the fuck did you do to her!?" Sirius shouted, while Remus tried wrestling him back.

Snape shoved Sirius away from him angrily. "This is courtesy of your dear cousin Bella, Black, and if I'm not able to treat her _very soon_, I promise you, she will die."

"Sirius, enough!" shouted Lupin, still holding him back. He turned his attention to Snape "What do we need to do?"

"Get her upstairs to one of the bedrooms," he barked. "Somewhere she can stay for a few days- "

"My room," Sirius interrupted.

"Whatever," Snape sneered. "Lupin - alert Dumbledore. We need him here immediately."

Remus nodded and Sirius took over levitating Jeannie. He lead her up the stairs to his bedroom with Snape following close behind. Opening the door, he carefully floated her in and set her in the middle of the room in front of his bed. Snape entered and waved his wand, lighting the room. He walked over to Sirius' nightstand and enlarged it, then began laying out the things he had grabbed from his office. Turning, he saw Sirius standing beside Jeannie awaiting instruction.

"Bellatrix hexed her just before I got her out of there. I don't know what it was, so I need to figure that out first. I cast a stasis charm on her to slow the bleeding, but I will have to remove it to do diagnostic spells. In the mean-time, levitating her is the only magic I'm willing to risk on her person, so anything I tell you to do will have to be done by hand. Clear?"

Sirius looked as though he'd rather eat troll dung than let Snape order him about, but he nodded anyway. He was_ not _going to let Jeannie die.

"Good," Snape said, walking to the door. "Miss Weasley! Miss Granger!" he barked. Several pairs of feet were heard coming up the stairs and Sirius knew all the kids had come, not just the girls. "_Only_ Miss Weasley and Miss Granger - the rest will stay out of here and will not interfere," Snape ordered.

Hermione and Ginny entered the room and their eyes widened at the sight of Jeannie floating in the air, bloody and bruised.

"I need you two to undress Miss Jones," said Snape, conjuring two pairs of scissors. The girls just stared, so Sirius spoke up.

"This is the most magic we can use on her at the moment," Sirius explained. "To assess all of her injuries, it's best if we get her undressed first. I'll hold her up while you cut away her clothing. You're just going to have to be adults about this," he said apologetically. The girls took the scissors from Snape and approached Jeannie. By now, Jeannie was unconscious, which made it a bit easier for Hermione and Ginny. They went to work snipping away at her dress while Snape went back to his potions and Sirius concentrated on keeping her still.

"What now?" Sirius asked, his voice sharp.

Snape glanced over to see that the girls were finished. He walked over to her and grabbed her chin. Pouring three vials of something down her throat, he watched her face. When some color returned to her skin he said, "Lay her down on the bed. On her stomach," he added.

Sirius moved her to hover vertically over his bed, but just as he was about to let her down, Hermione held her hand up. He hesitated while she and Ginny pulled away his sheets and situated his pillows so that Jeannie would be as comfortable as possible. He set her down on his bed and gave the girls a small smile. They returned it, but still looked petrified. Just then, the door opened and Remus walked in with Dumbledore.

Snape looked up. "Headmaster," he greeted.

"Severus. What do we have here?" Dumbledore asked gravely, his blue eyes dull and without their usual twinkle.

"From what I gathered, she somehow ran afoul of Lucius who decided to give Bellatrix a Christmas present. How and why, I don't know. She has been whipped, she has a split lip and Bella hexed her with something. I don't yet know what curse she used . She's under a stasis charm at the moment and I've given her three vials of blood replenishing potion before removing that. She's lost a lot of blood," he finished.

Dumbledore nodded. "Do you still need Miss Weasley and Miss Granger?"

Snape shook his head. The girls put the scissors on the nightstand and left the room. Snape went over to Jeannie and took a deep breath. Bellatrix could be very creative with her curses and he hoped that whatever she had sent Jeannie's way wasn't too complicated to undo. He waved his wand, removing the stasis charm, and watched as the blood began to flow again. He cast a series of diagnostic spells over her, but it took him longer than he thought to find, understand, and remove Bellatrix's curse. Jeannie had lost even more blood at this point and it was getting dangerous. Thinking quickly he cast another stasis charm on Jeannie and called for Hermione again. She entered the room apprehensively, trying not to look at the body on the bed.

"Miss Granger, are you familiar with the Muggle practice of donating blood?" he asked.

Hermione's eyes went wide. "Y-yes, sir," she stammered, confused.

"Good. Of the people in this room, who would you choose to donate blood for Miss Jones?"

She made a quick scan of the room. "Sirius," she said.

Snape narrowed his eyes. "And why is that?" he asked her.

"What the hell, Snape?!" Sirius interrupted angrily. "This isn't a classroom!"

"I am aware of that, Black. Miss Jones has lost more blood than can be replaced with potions. She needs whole blood and, therefore, someone needs to give blood. I know that muggles donate blood to hospitals, but since Miss Granger is a muggle-born, I believe she may have some valuable insight that I don't. Now," he said, turning his attention back to Hermione, "why is Black the best option?"

"Well, sir, assuming that you are the primary physician, donating blood would weaken you to the point that you would have to take a break. Professor Dumbledore is, um, older, " she glanced at Dumbledore who merely smiled at her, " and it may weaken him too much. Remus would not want to take the chance of passing on his lycanthropy. I've never been allowed to donate because I don't weigh enough - my body wouldn't be able to handle it. That leaves Sirius."

Snape thought this over. "Yes, I agree with you," he said, nodding. "Would you be able to describe to me - in _exact_ detail, mind you - the device used in the extraction of the blood?"

"Yes, sir," Hermione said confidently. "My mother donates blood every summer and I always go with her."

"Excellent. Begin," he said, his wand at the ready. Hermione blinked, then started describing everything from the bag to the tube to the needle. It took a few minutes, but Snape conjured a device that Hermione was happy with. When that was done, she told Sirius to have a seat and she knelt in front of him and asked him to roll up his sleeve. He did so, then offered his arm to Hermione. She took it, but her hands were shaking so badly that Sirius had to give her a few moments to calm down.

"It's going to be fine, Hermione, just take a deep breath," he said, soothingly.

"It's just - I've never done this before and I don't want to hurt you," she said nervously.

"You're not going to, sweetheart. I'm tough," he said in a deep, manly voice that made her giggle. It worked, though, and she calmed down enough to find the vein on the first try.

Once the blood bag was full, things went very quickly. Snape took the blood and immediately hooked it up to Jeannie, going slowly, as per Hermione's instructions. She made Sirius eat one of Dumbledore's lemon drops in lieu of a cookie to get his blood sugar back to normal and told him to stay put for at least half an hour. She didn't want him getting dizzy or passing out before his body had time to heal. Sirius also took one of Snape's blood replenishing potions, just to be on the safe side.

After another hour of watching and waiting, Snape declared that Jeannie was out of the woods. What she needed now was rest - there was nothing more he could do for her. Dumbledore praised Hermione for her help and cool head at the critical time which made her blush furiously. Sirius thanked her as well, and Remus opened the door to find five teenagers sitting in the hallway, clearly waiting on the prognosis. Remus filled them in while everyone else went down to the kitchen for a cup of tea. Dumbledore put the kettle on, and they all had a cup, then went to bed for whatever sleep they could get before dawn broke.

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Author's note: I skimmed over the 'giving blood' part because I didn't think too many details on that were important. I just wanted to get the facts in there. Please review!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	25. Waking Up

Author's Note: I'm so glad everyone seemed to like the drama at the Christmas party. Unfortunately, Jeannie's ordeal isn't quite over, but we won't see that until the next chapter. Welcome to my new fav/follower **mudblxxd**! Also, **Danneyland** had a few issues with the last chapter and I'd like to address a couple of them here, too, just in case some of you feel the same way: **a) **I was a bit too vague during the 'giving blood' - i.e., skimming over blood type and separating plasma from red blood cells. Honestly, I put in what I felt was necessary to last chapter's plot without making it too technical. I freely admit to being a bit ignorant about the process, and I hope it didn't turn any of you off, but I didn't want to make anyone squirm, either. It's a good point, though, but I'm not going to go into any greater detail about it. At least, not right now. That was more of a set-up for the plot-line than anything else. **b)** It was unnecessary to have Hermione and Ginny remove Jeannie's underwear. On this, I agree, and have edited out those three sentences. It worked well when I was writing that paragraph, but it's something that we can easily assume Sirius took care of later. I really like getting those kind of reviews, though, because it shows just how much attention the reader is paying to the chapter, and forces me to keep the quality up. I can't say that I will always agree with you, but please feel free to send me points like these if something is bothering you. I will do my best to address any issue you have, and I'm open to any comments that aren't flames ;)

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling

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Chapter 25: Waking Up

_The night before:_

_"Have a drink, Sirius," suggested Remus, trying to get his friend to stop pacing. _

_ "I don't want a drink," Sirius answered shortly._

_ "Then have a cigarette."_

_ "I don't have any cigarettes."_

_ "Would you like me to knock you over the head?" This earned more than a few sniggers from the teenagers in the room._

_ Sirius glared at him. "I don't like this, Moony- "_

_ "Yes, I know you don't like this, Sirius, that's all you've been saying about it since it was brought up. Two weeks ago!" said Remus, losing patience. "There's nothing you can do about it right now except wait for her to get back. And try not to drive me insane in the process!"_

_ Sirius huffed and threw himself into his chair, his senses on high alert and his foot tapping a hole in the rug. He watched the boys play chess for a while, and it nearly took his mind off the current situation to see Harry prove to be just as shit at the game as his father had been. Ron beat him solidly three times before he'd had enough and suggested they move on to Exploding Snap. They were into their fourth game of that when the floo activated..._

_-end flashback-_

It was mid-morning and Jeannie still hadn't woken up. Molly had gone spare when she'd returned from spending the night at St. Mungo's with Arthur and Remus told her what happened. Rushing up to Sirius' bedroom, she'd flung the door open, earning a surprised yelp from Sirius who'd been in dog form at the time, then quietly made her way over to the bed and gently brushed Jeannie's hair from her face while silently sobbing. Sirius shifted back into himself, wrapped his arms around the older woman and, as he'd done for Ginny just days before, let her cry herself out into his shirt. It had taken a few minutes, but after one last sniffle, Molly thanked him and told him she'd send up a plate of breakfast as soon as she had it done.

Snape had stopped by with more potions and a healing salve for her wounds so she would heal as quickly and as comfortably as possible. He'd also performed a few tests on her and had seemed satisfied with the results. Remus came in a couple of times, wanting to see if there was any improvement and if Sirius needed anything. He said that Dumbledore had floo-called and asked about her but, of course, there was nothing to tell. Tonks had come by, too, but she'd gone to bed after seeing Jeannie. It had been a long night for her as well since she'd been on guard duty. Max hadn't been able to stay long. He'd taken one look at Jeannie's back and his whole body went stiff. Sirius' extra senses picked up on his rage, and he understood when Max had to leave. Sirius figured he'd gone to find something to destroy, and he couldn't blame him.

Sirius looked up as Hermione appeared in the doorway. She was carrying a tray with what looked and smelled like the breakfast Molly had told him she'd send up. Hermione gave him a small smile and moved into the room, setting the tray down on the night stand with Snape's healing potions and trying not to look at the young woman on the bed. Sometime during the night, Sirius had covered her lower half with a blanket, but her shredded back was still on display. Hermione assumed it would be painful to have anything touching her back right now.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

"Not really," he said with a half-smile, enlarging the chair he was sitting in and making it a sofa, then patting the spot beside him. Hermione sat down with him as he levitated the night stand and the food over to himself. "How's Molly?" he asked.

Hermione shrugged. "As good as can be expected, I suppose. She's got a husband in the hospital and a daughter injured and unconscious." She chuckled. "She's been smothering us since we got up and she'll probably keep at it until we go back to school. Ginny especially."

Sirius nodded. He'd have been very surprised if Molly hadn't gone completely mental-mother-hen on everyone. Hermione sat with him while he ate and when he was done, he floated the table back to where it belonged and turned to her. He'd been thinking about what they'd done last night, specifically what _she'd_ done to _him_, and he wanted to talk to her about it. Sirius knew he was woefully ignorant about most things Muggle and he'd never heard of 'giving blood'. It sounded an awful lot like blood magic and he wasn't sure exactly how he felt about that. Blood magic was a double-edged sword at the best of times, and he didn't want to do more damage to Jeannie.

"Hermione, tell me about this 'giving blood' thing," he said. "What exactly did we do last night?"

"Well, it's common for Muggles to do something called 'donating blood'." Sirius gave her a blank look. "Um, well - in Muggle medicine, sometimes a person looses more blood than is safe and even though their body will reproduce this blood given enough time, sometimes they loose so much blood that their bodies can't replace it on their own. It's really the same concept as a Blood-Replenishing Potion, but instead of the potion, we used real blood. I'm not really sure why... perhaps I'll ask Professor Snape next time he's here... the potion really should have been enough..." she trailed off.

"Hermione," said Sirius, bringing her back from her thoughts. "I still don't understand. Why would a Muggle 'donate' their blood?"

"Because Muggle healers use it to - well - heal people," she said lamely. Sirius cocked an eyebrow at her. "Okay, I go with my mother every summer when she donates blood. She does exactly what we did last night, you know, with the bag and all? When the bag is full, a Muggle healer takes it and labels it with her blood type, and then stores it so it can be used later. It's fairly common for Muggle healers to do what Professor Snape did. They hook up blood to the patient and put it directly into their bodies instead of waiting for the patient's body to replace it on it's own. I think there's a few more steps to it in the Muggle world, but Professor Snape seemed to know what he was doing."

Sirius thought for a minute. "So," he said slowly, "it's like Jeannie needed something more potent than a blood-replenishing potion?"

"Something like that," Hermione agreed.

"Okay, so why did you choose me?"

"Well, giving blood takes a lot out of a person. Professor Snape was still working on Jeannie, so it wouldn't be good if he needed to take a rest. Professor Dumbledore is - well, ancient really," this made Sirius chuckle, " and his body may not have been able to handle it. I've never been allowed to give blood because I don't weigh enough; _my_ body wouldn't be able to handle it. Remus wouldn't want to because he'd be worried about passing on his condition. That left you."

Sirius sat back and digested this while he finished his coffee. It didn't sound like any bonding spell-work had been done last night, but magical blood was different than Muggle blood. He supposed that he needed to talk to Dumbledore about this. If anyone would know about blood magic and bonds, it would be the 'ancient' wizard. Just as he was thinking that, he saw a slight movement on the bed. Setting down his coffee hurriedly, he rushed over to Jeannie to see her eyes fluttering. He turned to Hermione.

"Hermione, go get Remus. Tell him she's waking up," he said urgently.

Hermione nodded and ran out of the room. Sirius put a hand on Jeannie's arm and spoke softly to her. Her eyes opened and looked at him just as he heard heavy steps in the hall. Remus appeared in the doorway and, when he saw Sirius talking to Jeannie, he rushed over as well. The two men knelt by the bed as she took in her surroundings. The last thing Jeannie remembered was seeing Sirius yelling at Snape as she'd come through the floo. She didn't know how she got naked or how she got into Sirius' bed and she had no idea how long she'd been out. A while, apparently, because the sun was bright in the window.

"Baby?" Sirius asked, wanting her to say something.

"Hi," she croaked, her mouth curling up slightly in an approximation of a smile. Both men breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hermione, could you bring me some parchment, please?" Remus asked the girl standing in the doorway. When she returned, Remus scribbled a quick note to Dumbledore telling him that Jeannie was awake and to bring Snape. Waving his wand over it, he sent it straight to the headmaster, hoping he would arrive quickly.

"Will you do one more thing for me, Hermione?" Remus asked. "Will you go downstairs and wait for Albus? Better let Molly know, too, but ask her not to come up yet. I'd like Snape to look over Jeannie first."

Hermione nodded. "Sure, Remus."

"Talk to me, Jeannie," Sirius was saying as Remus came and stood by the bed. "Does anything hurt?"

Jeannie frowned. "I'm really sore. All over, but my back is the worst. I'm really tired, too. How long was I out?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"Well," Sirius thought about it, "Snape got you back here around midnight and it's almost noon, so - nearly 12 hours, I guess."

"Sirius," said Remus, nodding towards the doorway. Sirius looked up to see Snape and Dumbledore standing there. He waved them in.

"We have to check you out, okay?" Sirius told Jeannie. She nodded, so he moved out of the way to let Snape work on her. The potions master ran several spells over her and asked her a series of questions. When he'd finished, he pulled out a set of instructions for the potions he'd left earlier. Now that she was awake, the potions could be used. There was one for general muscle aches because her back would probably be sore for days, and another to prevent scarring. When he was done with that, he asked her to tell him what exactly happened.

Jeannie sighed heavily. She wasn't sure that she wanted to have this conversation right now, but she knew why he needed to know. Then she had an idea - she asked Sirius to hand her her wand (which Snape was kind enough to get back from Malfoy before leaving the Manor the night before) and she conjured a small vial. She gave the vial to Sirius to hold for her, then placed her wand at her temple and focused on what happened. When she removed her wand, a silver thread trailed after it, and she guided the thread into the vial in Sirius' hand. Sirius stoppered the vial and handed it to Snape, who nodded and left.

Dumbledore left shortly after Snape, but before he did, he apologized to Jeannie for putting her in that situation and asked her permission to view the memory she'd given Snape. Jeannie waved off the apology - yes, Dumbledore had wanted her to go to the party, but she was not going to blame him for what happened - and told him that it was fine with her if he saw the memory. He thanked her and left as well.

His departure was Molly's cue to come up and visit. The matriarch had been very good while Jeannie was unconscious, but now she was awake, and Molly had mothering to do. As soon as the headmaster floo'd back to Hogwarts, Molly went straight up to Sirius' bedroom to see what needed to be done. She already had an enormous pot of chicken soup on the stove and a batch of Jeannie's favorite blueberry muffins in the oven and, judging by what she'd seen when she got back from the hospital that morning, Jeannie probably needed a bath.

"Hello, sweetie," Molly said softly, moving Sirius out of her way.

"Hey, mom," Jeannie said, her voice still weak and rough. "How's pops doing?"

"Getting better every day. Especially now that he's finally stopped trying Muggle remedies and has let the healers do their jobs," she answered, more to herself than to Jeannie.

Jeannie chuckled weakly, remembering the fit Molly had thrown a few days before when she found out Arthur had convinced one of the junior healers to try 'alternative medicine' in the form of Muggle stitches. They had literally disintegrated around his wounds and his healers had to rush to stop the fresh blood flow.

"How would you feel about trying to get up?" Molly asked, stroking Jeannie's hair away from her face. "Nothing strenuous, but you'll feel a lot better after a hot bath. I'll help you, dear."

"That does sound really good," Jeannie admitted. "I feel... sticky and gross."

Molly nodded sympathetically. "I know, dear. We'll go as slow as you need to, okay?"

Jeannie nodded. "Okay."

"I'll get things set up," Molly said. Apparently this meant immediately throwing out the men, one of whom was not particularly happy about it.

"You've got kids to take care of, I can help Jeannie!" Sirius protested as he was evicted from his own bedroom.

"Absolutely not! Out, the both of you!" Molly insisted, closing the door in Sirius' face.

Sirius huffed, but obediently followed Remus down to the sitting room where the rest of the household had gathered, awaiting news. He told them all he could and poured himself a glass of firewhiskey before flopping down into his chair and scowling at the coffee table while he waited for Molly to get done and let him back in his room. His scowl didn't last long, though, as he remembered all that had happened on that coffee table during the last few weeks.

"What's that look for?" Remus asked, noticing the sudden change in expression on Sirius's face and recognizing it from when they were teenagers. It was the look that said 'I've done something filthy and I enjoyed it'.

Sirius looked at his friend and shook his head, his grin turning into a fond smile. "Nothing," Sirius replied, "just thinking."

"Yes, I know that," said Remus. "The question is what are you thinking about?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sirius said with a chuckle. The werewolf shook his head and let it go. In all honesty, he knew Sirius well enough to know that he probably didn't want an answer to that. Especially after he and Tonks caught them sleeping together that one morning.

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Upstairs, Molly was helping Jeannie sit up slowly, then stand up slowly, then make their way to the bathroom slowly. After getting rid of all males in the room, she'd gone straight into Sirius' bathroom, performed a few cursory (but much needed) cleaning spells and flicked her wand at the tub so it would start filling itself with hot water. Then she'd gone over to the nightstand where Snape had left Jeannie's potions and carefully read the instructions, looking particularly for anything about hot baths. There was nothing specific, so Molly decided to just be gentle with her. Jeannie's back was still raw and probably would be for a few days, but a hot bath never did anyone any harm.

"That's it, dear," Molly said, leading Jeannie into the bathroom and letting the girl hold onto her while she climbed into the tub.

Jeannie lowered herself slowly into the scalding water and sighed contentedly. Due to her injuries, she couldn't lay against the back of the tub, but that was a small price to pay for the warmth that was seeping into her bones. Looking around, she took in the moldy opulence of Sirius' bathroom. Despite having been in his bedroom a couple of times before, she'd never seen the bathroom. The Slytherin pride of the Black family was obvious from the solid silver snake-head faucets to the green and silver tiles and sheer green curtains on the small window. Like the rest of the house, though, the bathroom had fallen into disrepair from neglect and Jeannie knew from experience that getting Sirius to actually fix something or restore it was harder than Hagrid's rock cakes. The man truly hated the house and unless it posed a threat to the kid's safety, he wasn't interested in improving it.

With Jeannie settled safely into the tub, Molly left the bathroom temporarily to find something for her to wear. Leaving the bedroom, thinking that she'd ask Hermione if Jeannie could borrow some of her things since Jeannie was so petite, she ran straight into Tonks. Or, rather, Tonks ran into her.

"S-s-sorry, Molly," the pink-haired witch apologized while yawning.

"That's alright, Tonks dear," Molly said, being long-used to Tonks' clumsiness. This gave her an idea, though. Instead of borrowing the girls' clothes, she asked Tonks to go over to Jeannie's place and collect a few things she might like and need. If anyone knew what she might want, it would be Tonks. The younger woman agreed, of course, and headed downstairs to use the floo, asking Remus to go with her. An Auror never went anywhere alone, if they could help it, but Molly suspected Remus was picked for another reason. She'd seen the looks that passed between the young cousin and the older professor, and Molly was no fool. Smiling to herself, she headed back into Sirius' bathroom to check on Jeannie.

By the time Jeannie was clean and ready to leave the warmth of the tub, Tonks and Remus had returned with an overnight bag full of Jeannie's things so she would have something to change into. Tonks pulled out an over-sized sweater that looked like it had once belonged to Max, a pair of warm sleep pants and some extra-long socks to keep her notoriously cold feet warm. Knocking on the bathroom door, she opened it without waiting for an answer and found Molly gingerly applying some of Snape's anti-scarring salve to Jeannie's back. The wounds were pretty awful, but her back looked better without the dried blood. She smiled at her friend and Jeannie smiled tiredly back.

"I hear you mucked up your first assignment," Tonks said. "Really! I thought I'd taught you better."

Jeannie laughed. "Yeah, I fell head-first into a snake pit. And got bit," she answered, pointing to her back.

Tonks moved into the room and carefully wrapped her arms around Jeannie. The girls shared a sisterly kiss and pulled apart; they knew how the other felt. Tonks put the outfit she'd picked out for Jeannie on the counter so Molly could help her into the clothes. When that was done, they both helped Jeannie back into Sirius' bed and Molly went downstairs to check on the chicken soup. As she got downstairs, she saw that Max had returned. Happy that she could give him some good news, she let him know that Jeannie was awake and yes, he could go up and see her. Jeannie looked up as Max came into view and smiled at him.

"Schwesterherz," he said quietly, walking up to the bed and kissing the top of her head. "You worried me."

"I didn't mean to," she replied, moved by his words. He hadn't called her 'Schwesterherz', or 'sister dear', since she was a child. It had been almost a pet name at one time and she had never realized how much she missed it.

"Don't do that again," he pleaded.

"I'll try not to."

Max nodded and looked around the room, taking in the scantily clad Muggle girls on the walls. "Whose room is this?"

"Sirius'," Tonks answered.

"Oh, yes?" Max asked, looking at Jeannie. The young woman rolled her eyes at the protective look on his face.

"Yes, Max," she said firmly, answering his unasked question. "Sirius'."

"Hmm," was all Max said about it. He'd never argued with her about her choice of men, and he wasn't about to start now. It was her decision; his job was to take care of her if things went south and if they went far enough south, treat himself to the joy of breaking bones.

Tonks and Max stayed and talked to Jeannie for a while, until Sirius showed up with a bowl of steaming chicken soup a la Molly. Jeannie was already starting to feel tired again, but she needed to eat. The last food she'd had was at the Malfoy's, and that was just finger foods. The last _meal_ she'd eaten was close to twenty-four hours before. Jeannie nearly licked her bowl clean and drank a large glass of water, then laid back down - on her side, so as not to hurt her back. Sirius picked up her bowl and started to ask her if she wanted more, but stopped when he noticed she was already asleep. Her injuries had taken a toll on her body, and she needed the rest. He chuckled quietly and pulled the covers over her, then herded his cousin and Max out of the room, leaving the door ajar so he could hear it if she called for him.

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Author's Note: There's going to be a bit more 'Max playing big brother' very soon; I simply haven't had room yet. Thanks to my go-to German translator **Tamaa** for 'Schwesterherz'. It means 'sister dear', and I think it fits perfectly for Jeannie and Max's relationship.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	26. A Gift From Kreacher

Author's Note: I did say that Jeannie's ordeal isn't quite over yet, and here it is. She does get a break after this, though.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling

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Chapter 26: A Gift From Kreacher

It wasn't until the next day that Jeannie felt good enough to brave the stairs and, even then, she held onto Sirius the whole way down. He lead her into the sitting room slowly, as her body was still stiff and sore. She also tired easily, so the trip down the stairs was enough for now. Sitting her down on one of the sofas, Sirius grabbed the blanket off the back and covered her with it. This was not missed by the occupants of the room, which included Max. Jeannie had all but confirmed some kind of relationship the day before, but this was the first time he'd seen it in action. Sirius seemed gentle with her, but that didn't mean Max wasn't going to threaten castration like any good brother would do.

"Feeling a bit better, Jeannie?" asked Hermione, who was sitting on the floor with Ginny, going through the latest copy of _Witch Weekly_.

"A bit," she answered, "but I really came down because I couldn't stand to look at those sluts on Sirius' wall any longer." The girls laughed at that and Sirius pouted. They'd caught a glimpse of the 'artwork' dotting Sirius' bedroom walls the night they were in there helping to heal Jeannie.

"What sluts?" asked Fred and George, earning a look from Remus about their language. They'd never been in Sirius' bedroom.

"When I was a teenager, I used a permanent sticking charm on the walls of my bedroom for pictures of scantily clad Muggle girls posing with motorbikes," Sirius said unabashedly. "Pissed my mother off to no end."

Once Sirius got her settled on the sofa, Molly appeared with another bowl of chicken soup. One of the reasons that Jeannie and Arthur got along so well was the fact that they both found it amusing how many things Muggles and Magical people shared without even knowing it, and chicken soup was one of them. A nice, hot bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup was a proven cure-all for everyone, and nobody knew this better than a woman who'd raised seven children. It did not matter if the children were magic or Muggle, chicken soup was the answer.

Between the warmth of the soup and the warmth of the blanket Sirius covered her in, Jeannie was starting to feel pretty good, considering. She stayed downstairs for a while, watching the kids play chess or exploding snap and do their holiday homework. Moody dropped by with a bar of Honeyduke's finest dark chocolate for her and told her she'd made him proud, staying strong and surviving like she had. This was high praise, indeed, from a man who'd lost limbs fighting the very people she'd mingled with at the party. Thanking him, she set the chocolate aside for later and snuggled deeper into the sofa.

By the early afternoon, though, Jeannie was ready for another nap. Sirius offered to apparate her up to the bedroom, but she refused, saying that she needed to move a little. She hadn't been able to do any stretching for two days and her muscles needed to work, if only for a few stairs. Sirius relented and walked beside her, ready to step in if she needed help. They made it out of the sitting room just fine, but as Jeannie approached the stairs, she stubbed her toe and swore loudly, forgetting momentarily where she was and waking up Mrs. Black.

The curtains flew open like usual but this time, instead of seeking out Sirius, the hideous old hag fixed her gaze on Jeannie.

_"You!"_ she sneered. _"Merlin only knows what whore's blood runs through your veins! How dare you touch any progeny of mine!"_

"Oi!," Sirius shouted. "You leave her out of it!"

The old woman ignored her son, keeping her eyes on Jeannie. _"How dare you befoul the house of my fathers by fornicating under this roof! My eldest son, shame that he is to me, is still the heir of this family! I will not have you sullying my blood-line!"_ she finished in a screech.

Jeannie was shocked. She'd never heard Mrs. Black pick on any individual that wasn't Sirius, except for vague insults about the 'freaks' and 'half-breeds' that were inhabiting her house. Now, it seemed that not only did she know who Jeannie was (at least she knew enough to single her out), but she also thought that Jeannie and Sirius had been intimate. Which technically wasn't true. Sure, they'd fooled around some, but they hadn't actually had _sex._ At least, not any kind of sex that could result in a pregnancy.

She was broken out of her thoughts by Sirius marching up to his mother's painting and slamming his fist against it.

"You foul old bitch!" he shouted, ignoring Remus and Molly, who'd arrived on the scene. "What I do and with whom is none of your damn business and if you call her a whore again, I'll use fiend-fyre on you!"

"Sirius," Jeannie called, having had a rather deviant idea. "Please help me upstairs; all this drama isn't good for my condition." She placed a hand on her stomach as if protecting an unborn child and pouted at him, hoping he'd catch on. Sirius blinked, confused, but then his lips curled into a grin.

"Right you are, love," he said, playing along and turning away from his mother's portrait. He walked back up to Jeannie, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her up the stairs, leaving Remus and Molly to wrestle the curtains closed on his mother, all three of them having been rendered speechless. Temporarily, that is. As they got to the top of the stairs, Jeannie and Sirius heard one more blood-curdling shriek before the sound was abruptly cut off, signalling the close of the curtains.

"I'm sorry," Jeannie said as she climbed back into Sirius' bed for a nap. "I just couldn't help myself, the opportunity was too good."

"No harm done, love," Sirius said, chuckling. "I'll let Moony and Molly know it's not true; everything will be fine."

"Alright," she replied with a yawn. "Just watch out for Molly's wand." Sirius made a face at her as he closed the door partially, like he'd done before, so he could hear her if she called for him.

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In all the ruckus, however, none of them noticed a small shadow in the corner of the front hall with tennis-ball sized eyes watching the scene play out. Kreacher let out a gasp at the filthy whore's insinuation that she was pregnant, but nobody heard it mainly because of the red-headed mother of the blood traitors' gasp. Once the master and his whore were safely upstairs and the woman and the half-breed had gotten the curtains closed, Kreacher crept quietly up to his beloved mistress' portrait and whispered to her.

"My poor Mistress," the elf lamented.

_"I want you to do something for me, Kreacher," _the old woman whispered to her faithful servant.

"Yes, Mistress. Kreacher lives to serve the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black," Kreacher replied.

_"You must kill it, Kreacher. Use your magic - it is harder to trace. Kill the whelp growing inside her," _Walburga hissed.

"Yes, Mistress. Kreacher will kill it. It will not live to shame the House of Black," the elf promised.

_"Good Kreacher," _Walburga cooed. _"Do it today when she is asleep."_

"Yes, Mistress," Kreacher rasped, lovingly caressing the frame of the portrait before turning away and creeping silently up the stairs. He waited in the shadows until the master left his bedroom and Kreacher knew that the whore was alone, then crept towards the room, peeking around the door to see if she was asleep yet. He watched her fluff the master's pillows and lay her unworthy head upon them, then he heard her breathing even out. Moving silently further into the room, he watched her, wanting her to be deep in sleep before making his move.

Kreacher moved closer to the bed when he was sure she wouldn't wake and began his curse. Using ancient elf-magic, he said the words that would cause her to miscarry. Creating a small, blue ball of light in his hands, he worked the ball until he it felt right to him. He sent the ball over to the whore and waited until he had a good view of her stomach. When she rolled onto her side, he sent the ball of magic into her belly. Her mid-section glowed blue for a few seconds, then the light was gone. His job done, Kreacher quickly left the room and waited.

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It hadn't taken much to calm Molly down, surprisingly. Although, that may have been simply because it was a conversation she was unwilling to have in a room full of her teenage children. Sirius assured her that Jeannie had only said that to get a rise out of his mother, and that seemed to do the trick. It also helped to have two werewolves confirming the fact that she wasn't pregnant. Breathing a sigh of relief, he went back to his chair and got comfortable. Closing his eyes briefly, he wondered what exactly had happened at Malfoy Manor. She obviously hadn't wanted to discuss it and he hadn't pushed the issue, figuring that if she didn't fill him in, then Dumbledore would. Or, perhaps she was simply waiting until the next Order meeting.

With his eyes closed, he didn't see Max and Remus stiffen, then cock their heads towards the ceiling. He did, however, hear Max snap at everyone to be quiet. Sirius' eyes snapped opened and he looked at Remus, whose stance immediately put Sirius on alert. Remus' whole body was rigid, head cocked slightly to the side, clearly waiting to hear something. Max had assumed the exact same position, and then they heard it again.

"Sirius!" came a weak voice from above them. All three men flew out of their seats and up the stairs, the two wizards drawing their wands and ignoring the renewed shouts from Walburga as her curtains flew open once again. Rushing into Sirius' bedroom, they saw that the bed was empty, but there was noise coming from the bathroom. It sounded like someone was puking up their socks.

Sirius rushed in and gathered Jeannie's hair so she wouldn't get vomit all over it. The poor young woman was hunched over the toilet bowl, throwing up what looked to be everything she'd ever eaten in her life. In between gasps for air, she tried to tell him something was not right.

"I feel like something's trying to crawl out of me... _retch_... but there's nothing left... _retch_... something's very wrong... _retch_... " Tears were streaming down her face and she'd lost all the colour she'd gained that morning. Sirius turned to Max and Remus.

"Get Dumbledore, get Snape - I don't care who, get Poppy Pomphrey if you can. This is not right," he said urgently, watching them rush back out the room. "Alright, baby," he said soothingly, turning back to Jeannie. "I'm going to get someone here, okay? I'll make this right." He spoke softly to her, holding her hair back and stroking her head. Waving his wand, he cleaned up the vomit that hadn't made it into the bowl. Apparently, Jeannie hadn't gotten there fast enough the first time. Sirius also conjured a cold cloth, gently wiping her mouth and, after cleaning it, dabbing at her forehead.

Within minutes, Sirius' bathroom was filled with men. Dumbledore had come at once, bringing Snape with him, and Remus and Max had decided to stay as well. For what, exactly, was a mystery, but Jeannie was important to them, so they stayed. Snape ran tests on the vomiting woman, but couldn't come up with anything conclusive. He stepped out of the bathroom, motioning for Dumbledore to follow.

"I don't know what's wrong with her," Snape said to the old wizard. "If I had to guess, it looks like a curse to end a pregnancy, but there is no pregnancy to terminate. On top of that, this is not wizard's magic. It's older and harder to trace."

Dumbledore thought for a minute while Jeannie continued to retch, though now it was just dry heaves as there was literally nothing left in her stomach.

"It's not wizard's magic?" Dumbledore asked. "What sort of magic is it, then?"

"I don't know, but I _do_ know that I got all of Bella's curse last night. I made absolutely sure of it, and this is not a side-effect of Black giving her blood."

"Hmm," Dumbledore said. "Do you think it could be elf magic?"

"Elf magic?" Snape repeated. "As in 'house-elf' magic? Do you think Kreacher cursed her? Why would he try to terminate a pregnancy that doesn't exist? There are easier ways to kill her."

The headmaster moved back to the doorway of the bathroom. "Sirius, we believe this may be an abortion curse. Would there be any reason for Kreacher to have tried to harm Jeannie in this way?"

Sirius froze. "Abortion curse?" he repeated, his voice deadly quiet. "I'm going to kill him."

"First, please tell us exactly what has happened today," Dumbledore asked calmly.

"My mother decided to put her two cents in about my relationship with Jeannie," Sirius answered with a snarl. "Jeannie insinuated that she was carrying my child to shut my mother up. It wasn't true, but it succeeded. Kreacher must have overheard it, or my mother called for him because she believed it."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "Remus, would you ask Harry to come up here, please?"

If Remus found this confusing, he didn't show it, nodding and swiftly leaving the room, only to return moments later with not only Harry, but Ron and Hermione as well. Dumbledore kept his eyes on Jeannie as he spoke to Harry.

"Harry, we have reason to believe that Miss Jones has been cursed by Kreacher. We cannot undo house-elf magic, but another elf can. Would you mind calling for Dobby? I believe you and he are friends and I think it would be beneficial for you to be around if he comes here. He trusts you, and he will no doubt be frightened to return to a pureblood house," Dumbledore explained, still not looking at the teenager.

Harry felt his heart sink as Dumbledore avoided looking at him. He understood, of course, after what had almost happened in the headmaster's office just before flooing to Grimmauld the night of Arthur's attack, but he couldn't help but want to catch Dumbledore's eye. Just to see if it would happen again. Harry needed to know if _he _was the monster or if he was being possessed by the monster, but the old wizard was not cooperating.

"Dobby?" Sirius repeated. He looked at Harry. "You've mentioned him before, haven't you?"

"Yes," he said, turning to his godfather and nodding. "I'll tell you all about him when this is over."

"Can he be trusted?" Sirius asked.

"Absolutely," said all three kids together. A ghost of a smile flickered over Dumbledore's face as Sirius's eyebrows went up. Sirius trusted Harry more than anyone except Remus, and if he said this 'Dobby' was alright, then he was alright.

"How exactly do I call a house-elf?" Harry asked, unsure.

"Just say his name," Sirius said. "As if he were in the room and you were trying to get his attention." Harry nodded and moved back into the bedroom so that the first thing Dobby saw was him and not Sirius.

"Dobby?" he called. A loud _crack _was heard and a small elf with huge ears and large green eyes suddenly stood in front of Harry, trembling at his surroundings and clearly recognizing the house for what it was - a pureblood's dwelling.

"Harry Potter called for Dobby?" the elf said, quivering from head to toe. Harry smiled at him, trying to reassure him.

"Yes, Dobby - I need your help," Harry said, causing the elf to stand up straight and proud, though still obviously nervous.

"Harry Potter asks for Dobby's help?" he said in his squeaky voice.

"Dobby, I think you're the only one who can help me," Harry said, both truthfully and because he knew that it was exactly what Dobby loved to hear.

"What can Dobby do for Harry Potter?" the elf asked, suddenly serious.

Harry knelt down in front of Dobby and ignored Ron's snort of amusement. "Dobby, do you see that woman in the bathroom?"

Sirius wisely turned his head to the side to hide his face as Dobby looked into the bathroom and nodded.

"She's my friend. I think that a house-elf has cursed her and I need you to try to heal her. Please try, she's important to me." This wasn't strictly true - to Harry, Jeannie was just another member of the Order, but the teenager hadn't missed the looks that passed between the young woman and his godfather, and Harry had no doubt that Sirius would take it badly if anything happened to her. And, by extension, anything that affected Sirius, affected Harry.

"Dobby will do his best, Harry Potter" Dobby swore, drawing himself up to his full height and puffing out his chest. He moved toward the bathroom, but Harry stopped him.

"There's one more thing I need to tell you, Dobby," he said, sharing a look with Hermione and Ron. "There's someone else in that bathroom. He's someone I trust, completely, but the rest of our world doesn't. He's my friend, too, and I don't want you to be afraid of him."

"Dobby is not sure he understands, Harry Potter," he replied slowly.

"Dobby, you trust Professor Dumbledore, right?" The elf nodded. "And you trust Hermione and Ron?" Another nod. "I'm going to ask you to trust me, too, Dobby."

"Dobby trusts Harry Potter! He does!" said Dobby, nodding so hard that his ears flapped back and forth, and Harry worried briefly that he might hurt himself.

"Alright, Dobby. The man in the bathroom is Sirius Black," Harry said, watching as the elf immediately began trembling again. Dobby's green eyes got even larger and his ears drooped.

"Nothing they ever said about him is true, Dobby," said Hermione, kneeling beside Harry. "He was innocent the entire time and he's never tried to hurt Harry. I promise, Dobby."

"I promise, too, Dobby," said Ron, noticing how Dobby calmed ever so slightly at those words.

Dobby looked at Harry. "Harry Potter promises Dobby?" he squeaked quietly.

Harry nodded firmly, looking Dobby in the eye as he would any person. "I promise, Dobby. Sirius is innocent and he's my friend. He's good to me. I would not lie to you," he added, in as serious a tone as he could muster.

The elf visibly relaxed at that. Pulling himself together, he turned to head into the bathroom. Pausing slightly at the door, he overcame his hesitation, squared his little shoulders, and walked up to Jeannie who was still heaving intermittently.

Now, being a pureblood, Sirius had been raised with house-elves. He'd met several of the little creatures and he'd even known a few rather eccentric ones, but the elf standing in his bathroom at that particular moment took the cake. Standing no more than three feet tall, Dobby's ears made up at least eight inches of that, his eyes were three times the size of any snitch Sirius had ever seen and greener that even Harry's, and that was just his physical appearance. His clothes were even stranger.

Clothes! _Real_ clothes! On a house-elf! Dobby was wearing what looked to Sirius to be one of Molly's sweaters (though how he had acquired that, Sirius couldn't fathom) and on his feet were two different socks; one was dark blue with twinkling stars on it and the other was red and white stripes, like a candy-cane. Sharing a look with Remus, Sirius shook his head, deciding to trust the kids and Dumbledore and ask questions later. He could feel Jeannie getting weaker and if this strange elf could help, he needed to do it quickly.

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Author's Note: Did you like how Harry handled Dobby? More elves in the next chapter.

Thanks, Gypsyfurface


	27. A Very Unusual Elf

Author's Note: I know the last chapter ended with a bit of a cliffhanger, but I'm glad you all seemed to enjoy it. I wanted to get this chapter out yesterday, but I got caught up writing the next three chapters instead of finishing this one! Hate it when that happens ;) Big welcome to new followers **Caitlinn89 **and** Aniles**!

Thanks, Gypsyfurface

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

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Chapter 27: A Very Unusual Elf

"Dobby," Dumbledore said, getting the elf's attention. "We believe she was cursed in order to cause a miscarriage, but she was never pregnant. Do you know what curse that might be?"

Dobby thought for a moment, then nodded, his ears drooping again. "There is a curse used by the elves of pureblood families to get rid of any child that is not 'pure'."

"Can you fix it?" asked Sirius, ignoring the way Dobby jumped at his voice.

"D-Dobby will t-try, M-Master Black," he stuttered quietly, keeping his eyes down and his voice quiet.

Sirius winced at the use of his formal title. "Please don't be afraid of me, Dobby," he said gently. "Harry promised you were in no danger here, remember?"

Dobby nodded, but kept his eyes down.

"Sirius is nothing like your former masters, Dobby," Dumbledore said reassuringly.

"Who did you belong to, Dobby?" Sirius asked.

"Harry Potter freed Dobby from the bad Master Malfoy," Dobby said fiercely, looking Sirius in the eye, almost daring him to argue the 'badness' of Lucius Malfoy.

Sirius opened his mouth to ask another question, but Jeannie whimpered, bringing everyone back to the task at hand. "You're in charge, here, Dobby," Sirius said. "Just tell me what you need."

Dobby looked at Sirius strangely for a moment, then got down to business. Taking the words to heart, he ordered Sirius to get Jeannie to lean back so he could access her stomach. Sirius knelt behind Jeannie and spoke softly to her, telling her to lean against him. She was very weak by now, so Sirius wrapped one arm around her chest and the other around her hips and hauled her back onto his lap. He leaned back slightly and pulled her with him, her head dropping to his shoulder. The pain inside her was so bad she didn't even register her raw back stinging at the contact.

Her skin was pale and clammy, her eyes opened but unfocused and her breathing was shallow. Sirius brought his mouth to her ear and whispered encouragement to her. He told her how strong she was, how he was going to take care of her, how beautiful she'd looked the other night... anything he could think of to take her mind off whatever Dobby was going to do. She whimpered again as the elf placed his hands on her stomach. Closing his eyes, Dobby began chanting words Sirius didn't recognize.

Jeannie squirmed as her stomach began to glow blue. Her face screwed up in pain, and she tried to get away from his hands. Sirius held her firm, though, because he could see what Dobby was doing. The little elf seemed to be drawing the curse out of her body, probably the same way it had gone in. The blue glow got brighter and Dobby began moving his hands, almost as if he was trying to mould the light into a ball. This was, in fact, exactly what he was trying to do, and when he was happy with the ball of blue light, he began pulling it out of her stomach.

Jeannie fought harder against Sirius' hold, but one look from Dobby made him grip her even tighter. Unable to find purchase with her hands, Jeannie reached back and grabbed Sirius' shoulders, clawing at them in her pain. Sirius hissed but he took it; whatever she needed to do to get through this was alright with him, even if he ended up with a few scratches. As Dobby pulled the ball of magic out of her stomach, Jeannie's back arched, she let out a pained cry and fainted.

Dobby continued working the ball of light into ever smaller spheres until he was able to contain it completely in his small hands. Clasping his hands together, he closed his eyes and chanted the strange words again. After a moment, the elf's eyes opened again and he sighed heavily, as though the procedure had been almost as taxing on him as it had been on Jeannie. Dobby unclasped his now-empty hands, showing that the curse had been eliminated, then he looked at Sirius.

"Miss will need to be woken," he squeaked tiredly. "Miss will have to eat something, then Miss can rest."

"Can't she rest now and eat when she wakes up?" asked Sirius, eyeing the unconscious woman in his arms.

"No, Master Black," Dobby answered, making Sirius wince again. "Miss needs to eat now. Miss is very weak, and needs strength even to rest. Rest will do Miss no good unless her body is strong to enough to heal while she rests."

"Alright," Sirius said, after a moment. "You're the healer. We'll do as you say." Hooking his arms under her knees and shoulders, Sirius lifted Jeannie and carried her bridal-style back to his bed. Laying her down gently, he arranged the pillows and blankets to make her comfortable.

"Dobby will make food," the little elf said, moving towards the door.

"Oh, no you don't!" said Hermione, standing in his way. "You're going to sit down and rest, Dobby." She grabbed Dobby's hand and led him over to the chair Sirius had stayed in while Jeannie was unconscious the first time. "There's plenty of food here already made. Will chicken soup work?"

Dobby made himself comfortable in the chair and looked up at Hermione with those big green eyes. "Yes, Miss Hermione, chicken soup is good."

Hermione nodded and made to leave to get some soup from Molly, but Remus' voice stopped her.

"Could you pick up that chocolate bar, too, Hermione? The one Alastor brought Jeannie?" he asked. "I believe it's still in the sitting room."

"Sure," she said, and hurried out of the room.

"P-Professor Snape, sir?" Dobby squeaked somewhat nervously.

Snape turned to the elf with his usual sour look. "Yes?" he drawled.

"Miss may need a bit of Pepper-Up potion to stay awake long enough to eat," Dobby said.

Snape turned to Remus. "Does she brew any in her lab here? I don't have any on me."

"Yes, I think so. I'll be right back," Remus replied, heading up to Jeannie's potions lab.

By the time Hermione returned with food and Remus had fetched the Pepper-Up, Dumbledore had conjured chairs for himself and Professor Snape and dismissed Harry and Ron from the room. Hermione set down the food tray and left as well, realizing that she was no longer needed, and once she'd gone, Sirius decided it was time to wake Jeannie. Sitting next to her on the bed, he gently shook her arm, but got no response. Realizing that he was going to have to wake her using magic, he pulled her into a sitting position and slipped onto the bed behind her so she could lean on him while she ate. Pointing his wand at her chest, he said _'Rennervate'_.

Jeannie awoke with a gasp, her eyes snapping open and her head whipping around to see who was holding her. Discovering that it was Sirius, she immediately relaxed and tried to close her eyes again, only to be shaken slightly and told she couldn't sleep yet; she had to eat something first. Sirius put the vial of Pepper-Up against her lips and told her to take one sip, no more. Jeannie obeyed mindlessly, not quite capable of putting up an argument. It only took a few moments for the potion to take effect. She wasn't able to sit up on her own, but she could hold her head up and her eyes became more focused and alert.

"How much does she need to eat, Dobby?" Sirius asked, balancing the tray on Jeannie's lap and helping her with the spoon.

"Dobby thinks at least half the bowl, Master Black," the little elf said, sounding as though he could use some Pepper-Up as well.

Sirius sighed. "Please don't call me Master, Dobby," he said, trying to sound gentle and firm at the same time.

"Why not?" Snape sneered. "It is your birthright, after all."

"Because I hate it, that's why," Sirius snarled back. He reigned in his annoyance at Snivellus' presence and turned back to Dobby. "I've always hated the title of 'Master', Dobby. It reminds me of my father. I did not like my father. I don't like that title when my own elf uses it, and since you are not my elf, I see no reason for _you _to use it," he explained. Sirius didn't particularly like talking about his feelings in front of Snape, but he hated Dobby calling him 'Master' even more.

Dobby gave him that strange look again, the same one he'd given him when Sirius told him that he was in charge in the bathroom. "You is a strange wizard, Sirius Black," he said.

This made Sirius laugh. "So I've been told," he answered, chuckling.

Once it became clear that Jeannie had eaten all of the soup she was going to eat, Sirius broke off a small piece of the chocolate bar and insisted she eat that as well. Remus had long ago convinced Sirius and James that chocolate had healing properties and since neither Snape nor Dumbledore argued against it as he fed it to the woman in his lap, he felt it could do her no harm. Jeannie finished the chocolate and asked if she could sleep now. Sirius looked at Dobby, who nodded, and told Jeannie yes, she could rest now. As if someone had flicked a light-switch, Jeannie's eyes shut and her breathing evened; she was clearly in deep sleep.

Sirius maneuvered her around so he could lay her down properly and covered her with the blankets. Motioning for the others in the room to follow him, he headed to the kitchen. Assuring a rather distraught Molly that Jeannie was going to be just fine, he asked her to go into the sitting room and keep the kids busy, giving the men a chance to talk. When Molly had gone, Sirius turned to Dumbledore.

"Kreacher can no longer stay here, Albus. I want him gone," he said, his tone calm and quiet, but hard enough to show the old wizard that he meant business.

Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "Would you call him, Sirius? I, for one, would like to know exactly what happened."

Sirius resisted rolling his eyes, but just barely. "Kreacher!" he hissed angrily. He already knew what happened - the elf cursed Jeannie. Period. End of story. Hearing it from Kreacher was only going to make him angrier.

A loud _crack_ echoed in the kitchen, and Kreacher appeared next to Sirius, but still far enough out of reach that he couldn't be strangled. The wretched little elf looked at Sirius with pure loathing in his eyes.

"Master called for Kreacher," he rasped, bowing low and ignoring everyone else in the room.

"Yes I did," Sirius said. "I want you to tell me exactly what you did to Jeannie."

Kreacher bowed again, muttering about disappointing sons and serving the House of Black. "Kreacher cursed the whore. Kreacher made her lose the undesirable whelp. Kreacher saved the blood-line."

It took all of Sirius' will-power not to lunge at the house-elf, but he suddenly caught sight of Dobby and calmed himself. Poor Dobby was looking at Sirius as though wondering if Sirius would prove himself to be just as bad as the Malfoys. Taking a few deep breaths, Sirius reminded himself that Dobby had just saved Jeannie's life and he didn't want _that_ elf thinking badly of him after Harry vouched for him.

"Why did you do this, Kreacher?" Dumbledore asked.

Kreacher ignored him.

"Answer him, Kreacher," Sirius ordered.

Kreacher's face twisted into a grimace. "My Mistress ordered me to. Kreacher lives to serve the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."

"Your Mistress is dead," Sirius said bluntly. "And good riddance if you ask me."

Kreacher's eyes narrowed and he began muttering curses and insults under his breath.

"Oohh, Kreacher is a bad elf!" said Dobby suddenly, taking everyone by surprise. "Kreacher may not like his Master, but he is bound to serve! Sirius Black is not an evil wizard, no he is not! Not like poor Dobby's former masters! Sirius Black cares about people! People like young Miss upstairs that Kreacher hurt! Kreacher is a bad elf for hurting the guests under his Master's roof!"

"Dobby wears clothes," Kreacher sneered, turning to the other elf. "Dobby has been dismissed. What does Dobby know of being a good elf?"

"Dobby is a free elf," Dobby said proudly, standing on the chair with his ears at attention. "Dobby works for Professor Dumbledore. Dobby likes his work, yes he does, and he likes getting paid for it. It's fair."

Kreacher visibly recoiled at the thought of a house-elf getting paid and Sirius had to shake himself out of his momentary stupor. This Dobby was getting more confusing by the minute and, while he wanted to hear all about this 'paying the house-elf' business, he did not want to spend the rest of the afternoon playing referee to Dobby and Kreacher. Things needed to be settled.

"Alright, alright!" Sirius said loudly, interrupting the insult-hurling elves. "Kreacher, shut up! Dobby, please pipe down for a minute." They obeyed, Kreacher out of duty and Dobby out of politeness. "Kreacher, go up to my mother's bedroom. You are to stay there until I call for you or come get you, do you understand?"

"Yes, Master," Kreacher bowed and disappeared with a _crack_.

"He cannot stay here, Albus," Sirius said again. "Today it was Jeannie, who's next? Harry? The girls? Remus? Kreacher's been barmy since I can remember, and it's only gotten worse. You heard him - he's taking order's from my dead mother's portrait! If she has her way, we'll all be dead by New Year's."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, I quite agree. Dobby, what do you think?" Dobby looked surprised that a wizard as powerful as Albus Dumbledore was asking his opinion on anything, but he quickly recovered, and appeared to think about the question.

"Dobby thinks that perhaps one of the Hogwarts elves could trade places with Kreacher?" he said slowly, his eyes widening as though he had someone in mind, but didn't want to push this idea without permission.

"And do you know of someone, Dobby?" Dumbledore asked politely.

"Yes, sir!" Dobby answered, excited. "Winky, sir!"

"Winky?" Dumbledore asked. "Not yourself, Dobby?"

Dobby shook his head, his ears flapping. "Not Dobby, sir. Meaning no offense, Sirius Black," he added quickly, turning to Sirius, "but Dobby is very happy at Hogwarts, and Dobby can keep an eye on Harry Potter there."

"Quite right," Sirius said, nodding as though he knew what the strange little elf was talking about.

"Hmm, Winky," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "Dobby, would you mind going back to the kitchens and speaking to her about this while I speak with Sirius? _Only_ Winky, you understand. Nobody else can know about what has happened today."

Dobby nodded happily. "Yes, Professor, sir - Dobby goes now!" he cried, snapping his fingers and disappearing.

Sirius leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "Would someone like to translate what just happened into English, please?"

Dumbledore chuckled, but gave Sirius the basic rundown on Dobby and Winky. He told Sirius that Dobby used to belong to the Malfoy's, but that it would be better to get the full story from Harry. He also explained about paying the elves.

"If you have any reservations about paying Winky," Dumbledore said, the familiar twinkle back in his eye. "I would suggest speaking to Ms. Granger. I'm sure she could give you a number of reasons why it's the right thing to do."

Sirius _did_ roll his eyes at that. He'd been in the sitting room listening to Hermione's thoughts on creature's rights far too often to be stupid enough to ask her opinion on Winky's salary. Sirius would simply tell her that he was paying the elf, and that the amount was between him and Winky, like any other employer. Contrary to what Hermione thought, Sirius had no real problem with freeing house-elves, he simply disagreed on her way of doing it. In fact, he wasn't even sure that they needed a house-elf, but Dumbledore insisted, saying that headquarters would be a much happier place without so many cobwebs. Sirius felt that nothing could ever make Grimmauld Place _'happy'_, but he relented. It was more ammunition against Hermione, anyway - he could tell her Dumbledore ordered him to employ an elf.

In the end, Sirius agreed to have Winky come and work for him and he agreed to the 'employment' terms that Dumbledore had been honoring, but he asked that she not come until the kids had gone back to school. There was too much drama going on at the moment and Sirius wanted to be able to give this elf his undivided attention since Dumbledore had told him she'd been having a hard time adjusting to free life. Dumbledore agreed to that and promised to speak to Winky when he got back to the school.

Jeannie awoke later that evening and Sirius was right there, asking if she needed anything. She told him she was hungry, so he got her some soup, watching as she ate slowly as though afraid to put too much back into her stomach. He explained all that had happened that afternoon and told her that he'd sent Kreacher to work in the Hogwarts kitchens since, apparently, he wasn't allowed to kill him. Jeannie laughed at that, then asked Sirius if he would mind making some tea. Of course he didn't mind, so he went down to the kitchen to put together a tray.

When Sirius got down to the kitchen, he found it deserted. Putting the kettle on, he grabbed mugs and teabags while the water boiled. As he was doing this, Max walked into the room. The large man took a seat at the far end of the kitchen and watched Sirius. Feeling eyes on him, Sirius turned to look at Jeannie's 'brother'. The two men sized each other up for a minute.

"What are your intentions with my sister?" Max asked bluntly, taking Sirius by surprise.

"Beg pardon?" Sirius said, his eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hairline. He wasn't really about to have this conversation, was he?

"Come now, Sirius, we are both men of the world. You were locked up a long time, and I don't suppose the dating opportunities have been plentiful since your escape," Max said.

Sirius didn't like the sound of that. "I'm not sure I quite understand you, Max," he said, his voice flat.

"I'll make myself plain, then. I don't want to see my sister used to - how do the English say it? - _scratch an itch_," he explained.

Sirius took a deep breath and reminded himself that he had no right to be offended by that. "I can appreciate that, Max, but you should know that whatever happens between us, I do genuinely care for Jeannie and I would not use her like that. No matter what reputation I might have had at one time, I am not and have never been that sort of bastard," he said honestly.

Max smiled. "I meant no offense, Sirius. You must understand - Jeannie is my only true family - I have a right to be protective," he said.

"I understand, Max," Sirius said, and he did. Sirius understood completely the bond formed by one's chosen family.

"My sister seems to think that you're worth it," Max said, getting up and walking towards Sirius. "Don't give me reason to think otherwise." He fixed the dark-haired wizard with a hard look. "That stick of yours is no insurance. It would be very easy to take it from you."

Sirius instinctively clutched his wand tighter. "I'll do my best," he said truthfully.

"Of course you will," Max said in a much lighter tone, moving past Sirius and out of the kitchen. "It would be impossible to do any better than your best."

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Author's Note: Okay, guys, I need your help! A few chapters back, I made a reference to Tonks and Jeannie having had a threesome with Charlie while they were at school, and I've decided to do a one-shot of that, but I need prompts! I know it's going to be at Hogwarts and during seventh year, but other than that, I'm stuck! Send me any and all ideas, and I'll see how many I can use! I probably won't publish for at least a few weeks, so take your time and let me know ;)

Thanks, Gyspyfurface


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